HIPAA

[Guest guest]

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act -

A lot of folks think that the " P " in HIPAA stands for " Privacy. " While

Title II of HIPAA does include a privacy rule, the act was enacted to

address the issue of portability and accountability for medical records

in the electronic age.

Title I essentially prohibits any group health plan from establishing

rates and eligibility rules based on health status or disability. This

does not apply to private individual insurance. For example, the cost

for a spouse to join the NC State Employee's Health Care plan is an

additional $500 per month regardless of that spouse's health issues.

Title I also has some rules regarding limiting pre-existing condition

issues and the like.

Title II addresses health care fraud and abuse, administrative

simplification and medical liability reform and includes the Privacy

Rule, which establishes guidelines for the use and distribution of

Protected Health Information. This really addresses one's records, not

really whether or not I get my shot behind a curtain.

For example, it would be unreasonable for the doctor's office to have

some kind of special entrance for patients only and to schedule us so

far apart that we'd never run into each other so that no one patient

would see (and therefore be able to reasonably identify) any other

patient. So the fact that I show up at the pulmo's office at all means

that I give up some small amount of my privacy.

Regarding receiving infusion in a room with only the slightest amount

of privacy (e.g., Fran's example, where presumably I can't see the

folks next to me but I can see the person directly ACROSS from me),

while admittedly the other patients in the room would then know I'm

getting an infusion, it's not really any less of a violation of my

privacy than sitting in the waiting room with them.

SO.....HIPAA protects the privacy of my records and under what

circumstances they can be released and for what purpose they can be

used.

Addy

Group Co-owner