your medical records made public??

[Guest guest]

I got this post off another board, thought you might be interested.

 

 

Dear Listmates,

 

I normally do not inflict such advocacy issues onto lists, but I

consider this issue quite important and have bothered to check the

websites relating to the issue. Who can say what any weakening of the

medical privacy requirements might do to one's personal credit lines,

insurance, or job security. The act is complicated, but there is no

reason not to make your wishes in this regard known. Once the genie

is out of the bottle, there's no getting him back in. Please do take

the time to voice your opinions/concerns on this important issue. I

composed the short note below following their guidlines in the

included notice and sent it to the comment website at

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/whatsnew.html .

 

To do so, click on the Submit a Comment on the Proposed

Modifications on that webpage. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Regarding Section 164.506-

-Do not eliminate or weaken patient consent for access to their

personal medical records--instead strengthen such consent

requirements from patients! Do not override any stronger state laws

protecting medical privacy and consent--Section 164.506. Make it

mandatory to obtain patient consent for " recommending treatment " --do

not allow drug companies or any other businesses to contact

individuals directly from their identifiable prescription or medical

records in order to sell them products--sections 164.501 and 64.508(a)

(3). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ See notice below: Send a copy of what you

write to dpeelmd@a...

 

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES: G O V E R N M E N T

B U R E A U C R A T S W I L L D E C I D E W H O SE E S

Y O U R M O S T P R I V A T E I N F O R M A T I O N

 

 

FRIDAY APRIL 26th IS THE LAST DAY to send comments to HHS about the

changes that are being proposed (see below for how to comment). IF

THOUSANDS OF CITIZENS DO NOT PROTEST THE ELIMINATION OF PRIVACY, the

government will take the power to consent to disclose our medical and

mental health records away from us. It took 52,000 letters to get the

Clinton Administration to keep consent in the current Privacy Rule.

We need that many people to write NOW. Privacy is essential for

effective medical care and Americans still believe they have control

over their sensitive medical and mental health records, BUT this

important basic right to privacy is about to be taken away. The Bush

Administration may take away the right each of us NOW has to consent

to the release of our medical records.

 

If we lose our right to give or withhold consent, we will have no way

at all to keep our records out of the hands of hundreds of people in

healthcare-related businesses, in banks, and out of the hands of our

employers. The government may give " regulatory permission " for our

records to be accessed by the entire healthcare system, by banks and

employers, all without even letting us know who sees them. Even if

someone strenuously objected to the release of his or her medical

information or paid for care out of pocket to try to keep records

private, the government can legally override those objections by

giving " regulatory permission " for the records to be disclosed.

Physicians and mental health professionals will then have no choice

but to send those records out.

 

If they withhold records, they become criminals. Effective

psychotherapy will be destroyed, because it depends on privacy for

people to trust enough to communicate sensitive information. That

can't be done without the guarantee of privacy.

 

There are several other very serious problems with the government's

proposal: 1) It overrides state laws protecting the right to consent.

2) Eliminating consent violates the ethical principles of nearly

every medical profession and the statutory or common law of nearly

every state. IF A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL WANTS TO REMAIN ETHICAL HE OR

SHE WILL BE BREAKING THE LAW!!! 3) For example, health plans can

require the release of mental health information before they pay for

knee surgery. Since physicians and mental health professionals cannot

prove that mental health records are unnecessary for payment,

disclosure of sensitive MH information will be permitted for

virtually any purpose. 4) Health plans will be able to access ALL the

medical records of every physician and mental health professional,

even those of people who paid out-of-pocket to ensure privacy,

claiming they are needed for " health care operations " 5) " Marketing "

is redefined so patients can be contacted directly about their

medicines. These privacy breaches are renamed " recommending

treatment. " SAVE PRIVACY !!!

 

 

COMMENT TO HHS NOW at: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/ Here's what to

include with your own ideas or your story: 1) Section 164.506: Do not

eliminate or weaken consent. Strengthen consent. 2) Do not override

stronger state laws protecting medical privacy and consent. Section

164.506. 3) Obtain patient consent for " recommending treatment, " ------

don't allow drug companies or other businesses to contact individuals

directly from their identifiable prescription or medical records to

sell them products! Get consent first. See Sections 164.501 and 64.508

(a)(3). View the proposed changes in the HIPAA Privacy Rule at:

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/propmods.txt Deborah C. Peel, MD

President, NCMHPC PS - Are Y O U a member of the National Coalition

of Mental Health Professionals and Consumers, Inc.? Why not? We are

doing great things! Check us out at:

http://www.thenationalcoalition.org/PresidentDP.htm