By Nancy Williams
August 20, 2022
Source: Citizens Times
Photo Source: Unsplash, Leilani Angel
If ever there’s been a federal policy that had its intended benefit overshadowed by burdensome implementation, it’s HIPAA, which I’m pretty sure stands for Hemorrhaging Infinite Privacy Acclamations and Attestations.
HIPAA (actually the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is the federal law enacted in 1996 primarily to “improve health care efficiency, health insurance portability and keep patient health records secure.” Improve efficiency? Haha. And patient privacy? Heehee. Sure, there are big wrinkles. However, to be fair, they’ve only had 27 years to figure it out.
Forests of trees have given their lives to produce paper so we can have handouts and mailings and brochures and updates about HIPAA and patient rights, that we have to sign every time we do anything medical which is more major than buy Kleenex. I’m confident that I — just me, a lone American — have received no less than 12 reams of paper printed with HIPAA policies and practices.
Whenever you deal with the medical system, you sign that you’ve received pages of information about your patient rights related to privacy. Even in an urgent situation, as in blood is spurting from a body part, you are presented with gobs of fine print. Yes, yes, we need stitches here, I agree to everything. Sometimes a person putting the policies and forms in front of you will summarize them, “This just says you are aware we will protect your privacy.” OK, if you say so.
And even in a non-emergency situation, you’re going to play along. You have an appointment with a specialist of some kind, which you waited two months to get, which got rescheduled due to staffing issues, and now finally here you are. The HIPAA policy pages could say nearly anything and you’d sign off. My objection is that while we spend zillions of dollars announcing the regulation of patient privacy laws and procedures, we fail so gloriously at doing it.
In days gone by, when you arrived for an appointment, you put your name and social security number on the sign-in sheet, and others checking in behind could see. Now, in the name of more privacy, you check in at the receptionist window and someone usually asks you: Is your address still… (she speaks it loudly so you can hear on the other side of the desk, as can any others within 50 feet.) Do you still work at…? Is your next of kin still…? And other personal data questions. Putting it all right out there. If I were an identity thief, I’d sit in doctor office lobbies and take notes. And since the wearing of masks began, we can’t hear as well the muffled verification questions, so they ask them even louder, then repeat them. Helpful for would-be identity stealers.
For sport, once when the receptionist asked if my phone number was still the same and called it out, I said no, it’s changed to 828-PRI-VACY. She wrote it down and didn’t react. Probably figuring we got us a smart aleck here. And yes, they did have. You’re welcome. I’m a volunteer HIPAA secret shopper. And what medications are you taking? Hipaacillin, the dosage used to be 25 grams, recently increased to 50 grams.
Another time when the receptionist starting barking my phone number, I said, WAIT! then leaned in and whispered there’s a guy in the lobby who has his eye on me and wants my phone number. She looked around and looked confused. I said, OK, OK, technically there isn’t anyone else in the lobby right now, but I feel in my heart if there was, he’d have his eye on me and be wanting my phone number.
Fun for me is when a person at a blood lab, X-ray center, or procedure type place asks at check-in: What are you here for? In front of a lobby full of people. I make stuff up. Foot reduction. Itchy scalp. Everything, I’m here for everything you offer; one of each, please. A couple of years ago I went for a pancreas scan. Large waiting room was packed. The receptionist fella asked me what procedure I had been sent to have. I told him a pancreas scan. He asked if a pancreas scan was an upper abdomen or lower abdomen scan. (I’ll have Anatomy for $600, Alex.) I said I can’t remember where pancreases are, let’s ask all the people out here who are listening to our conversation, I bet somebody knows. Or we could take a vote.
Hospitals require you sign extensive and detailed, legal language information about how seriously they take your privacy and guard your personal details. Based on what we have going on at our hospitals, seems there are a few more important patient rights they ought to tack on. For example, the right to have a somewhat clean room. “And if we don’t have the staff the clean your room, we’ll discount what we charge you because the daily room rates are based on rooms without Band-Aids and ick on the floor.”
My adult son was in a car accident a year ago and fractured his hand. In order to pay the medical bills, the insurance company for the at-fault driver wanted medical records. My son filled out the release form for records related to the hand injury to be sent to the insurance company.
The release was mailed to Mission Hospital, who rather than sending only the requested records, sent everything they had about him since the beginning of time. 78 pages. And charged the insurance company for all those pages they didn’t have permission to send. $150 total. The hospital actually made money by violating HIPAA.
My son, a little like his ma, was disgusted by the irony of all the privacy preaching vs. the actions which totally disregard privacy. He doesn’t have anything to hide, yet believes, if we’re going to spend so many hours and dollars regulating the protection of privacy ala HIPAA, then, by George, let’s regulate it with a smidgen of competency.
He reported the HIPAA violation, (as per the pages you sign and what to do in the event of a violation) to the hospital compliance officer and expected he’d never hear back. In a shocking turn of events, the person in charge of this sort of thing, (who is located in another state, of course) called and said he’d checked in to it and that yes, a mistake had been made … by their contractor who handles records and releases.
My son celebrated. Merely having the hospital staff person admit the significant mistake by HIPAA standards was a win. Yeah, they know hardly anybody reads the privacy pledges they gush. But now they know this fella did, and caught them saying one thing, then doing something else.
He and I are Team HIPAA. Understanding patient privacy far more than those providers who make us sign their guarantees to it.
How can such practices impact your health? Your life? Why?
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