Re: Does this mean employers can easily access our health records?

[Guest guest]

" Second, the potential benefits and costs of health IT must be

clearly perceived by its stakeholders. "

Mmmmm-boy! I can smell the propaganda all the way over here.

And this, from the same government that can't control it's borders, can't give

advice on tax collection without a 50% error rate, can't even meet its own

CURRENT security standards, and within the last decade has accepted foreign

campaign contributions to federal elections?!!! Oh yeah. I want them accessing

my medical files...not.

Anybody else notice how HIPAA has made a visit to a doctor's office a regular

crash course in legal contracts? The number of things you have to explicity GIVE

them permission to know and tell before you can even get treatment is just

amazing.

Used to be, you went on medical leave, your doctor wrote a note, and that was

that. Not any more! I was REQUIRED to give them direct access to all my medical

records.

And we thought the Patriot Act was problematic. HMMPH!

Serena

www.freeboards.net/index.php?mforum=sickgovernmentb

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

hear hear!!

> " Second, the potential benefits and costs of health IT must be

> clearly perceived by its stakeholders. "

>

> Mmmmm-boy! I can smell the propaganda all the way over here.

>

> And this, from the same government that can't control it's

borders, can't give advice on tax collection without a 50% error

rate, can't even meet its own CURRENT security standards, and within

the last decade has accepted foreign campaign contributions to

federal elections?!!! Oh yeah. I want them accessing my medical

files...not.

>

> Anybody else notice how HIPAA has made a visit to a doctor's

office a regular crash course in legal contracts? The number of

things you have to explicity GIVE them permission to know and tell

before you can even get treatment is just amazing.

>

> Used to be, you went on medical leave, your doctor wrote a note,

and that was that. Not any more! I was REQUIRED to give them direct

access to all my medical records.

>

> And we thought the Patriot Act was problematic. HMMPH!

>

>

>

> Serena

> www.freeboards.net/index.php?mforum=sickgovernmentb

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

I think this plan does have issues as far as hackers accessing your records, but

the good it would do the healthcare system justifies it. If you there is a

network where a person's health records can be accessed, if he is from New York

and has a heart attack in Florida, doctors can immediately pull his records.

The issues of security are not only with healthcare. I think a great number of

us do banking via the internet and use credit cards, but there are risks with

those, too. I think it is a good idea, but the security issues should be dealt

with, tested, and then tested some more.

madeskv <madeskv@...> wrote:hear hear!!

> " Second, the potential benefits and costs of health IT must be

> clearly perceived by its stakeholders. "

>

> Mmmmm-boy! I can smell the propaganda all the way over here.

>

> And this, from the same government that can't control it's

borders, can't give advice on tax collection without a 50% error

rate, can't even meet its own CURRENT security standards, and within

the last decade has accepted foreign campaign contributions to

federal elections?!!! Oh yeah. I want them accessing my medical

files...not.

>

> Anybody else notice how HIPAA has made a visit to a doctor's

office a regular crash course in legal contracts? The number of

things you have to explicity GIVE them permission to know and tell

before you can even get treatment is just amazing.

>

> Used to be, you went on medical leave, your doctor wrote a note,

and that was that. Not any more! I was REQUIRED to give them direct

access to all my medical records.

>

> And we thought the Patriot Act was problematic. HMMPH!

>

>

>

> Serena

> www.freeboards.net/index.php?mforum=sickgovernmentb

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

Group --

Transparency with data for practicioners is a definite plus,

especially with the number of referrals that people on this board are

subjected to after the requisite headscratching.

However...

How about the disturbing possibility that medical records pertaining

to a genetic predisposition or a history of mycotoxicity being

introduced in the insurance industry's CLUES database?

I saw a journalist for the real estate industry propose after the IoM

report came out that instead of having sellers give mold testing

disclosures, that BUYERS would have to provide evidence of immmune

system integrity, or the leinholder could decline the sale and still

avoid any discrimination issues.

Lee

> > " Second, the potential benefits and costs of health IT must be

> > clearly perceived by its stakeholders. "

> >

> > Mmmmm-boy! I can smell the propaganda all the way over here.

> >

> > And this, from the same government that can't control it's

> borders, can't give advice on tax collection without a 50% error

> rate, can't even meet its own CURRENT security standards, and within

> the last decade has accepted foreign campaign contributions to

> federal elections?!!! Oh yeah. I want them accessing my medical

> files...not.

> >

> > Anybody else notice how HIPAA has made a visit to a doctor's

> office a regular crash course in legal contracts? The number of

> things you have to explicity GIVE them permission to know and tell

> before you can even get treatment is just amazing.

> >

> > Used to be, you went on medical leave, your doctor wrote a note,

> and that was that. Not any more! I was REQUIRED to give them direct

> access to all my medical records.

> >

> > And we thought the Patriot Act was problematic. HMMPH!

> >

> >

> >

> > Serena

> > www.freeboards.net/index.php?mforum=sickgovernmentb

> >

> > __________________________________________________

> >

[Guest guest]

Interesting but my doctors rarely write down what my symptoms I

actually tell to them. I've seen records where symptoms I said I

DIDN'T have, he put down as my symptoms. I figure reason was

symptoms he wrote down were typical ones to get an endoscopy so in

this case wrote symptoms down that justified to MY INSURANCE COMPANY

a endoscopy. Symptoms were ones I in fact had DENIED having!

Diagnosis he gave me was FLAT wrong. I had ulcers. When test came

back not due to H Pylori germ which is usual cause, he diagnosed me

with GERD, ignoring fact that I told him insert for medicine I was

taking said a side affect could be suppression of immune system,

resulting in sore throat, mucous membrane ulcerations and that I

should go off medicine and 'my health closely monitored'. Noone has

closely monitored my health since then. Doctors seem to deny I

should be concerned about it even though my health has TANKED since

I took medicine. I went off of medicine even though doctor didn't

think that was cause, I did not follow GERD instructions, to put my

bed up blocks and did not take the prescription GERD medicine but a

year later follow up endoscopy showed ulcers were gone. So

stopping the medicine cleared it up. This is just one of a million

examples of medical record screw ups. Anyway, point is if my

medical records followed me, I'd constantly be struggling to clear

up the resulting confusions.

I took care of an elderly relative with screwed up records also. I

ALWAYS get a copy of everything. That's why I know. Doctors are

really 'writing their records' for your insurance copy so they are

sure to be compensated, NOT to keep an accurate record of your

health picture. When you try to straighten out the incorrect

information, few people listen to you because it is 'you' versus God

(the doctor).

I get a copy of all lab work always and keep them myself in a file.

Otherwise, I'd like to start fresh with everyone as it would cause

me alot of problems.

> I think this plan does have issues as far as hackers accessing

your records, but the good it would do the healthcare system

justifies it. If you there is a network where a person's health

records can be accessed, if he is from New York and has a heart

attack in Florida, doctors can immediately pull his records. The

issues of security are not only with healthcare. I think a great

number of us do banking via the internet and use credit cards, but

there are risks with those, too. I think it is a good idea, but the

security issues should be dealt with, tested, and then tested some

more.

[Guest guest]

>moldincolo <jonathan1@...> wrote:

>Group --

>Transparency with data for practicioners is a definite plus,

>especially with the number of referrals that people on this board >are

>subjected to after the requisite headscratching.

>However...

>How about the disturbing possibility that medical records >pertaining

>to a genetic predisposition or a history of mycotoxicity being

>introduced in the insurance industry's CLUES database?

>I saw a journalist for the real estate industry propose after the >IoM

>report came out that instead of having sellers give mold testing

>disclosures, that BUYERS would have to provide evidence of immmune

>system integrity, or the leinholder could decline the sale and >still

>avoid any discrimination issues.

> Lee

This isn't even a question in my mind. If a thing CAN be abused, it will. Sooner

or later, no matter how good our intentions were to start out with. I've spent

enough time working on government IT systems to state categorically and with

zero hesitation that this is NOT where you want to send private information. Of

any kind, actually. As good as it would be to have instant transferability of

records, you are talking about going far beyond the mere transfer of lab results

and past surgeries.

If you haven't done so already, get copies of ALL your own medical records. You

will find very, very quickly that stacked together, these records form a nearly

unbelievable repository of wrong diagnoses and personal opinions you would

undoubtedly sue a person for if they were stated publicly. Were all your

previous records to be transferred along to every doctor you see in future,

their opinion would now very possibly be swayed to the detriment of your

continued health and sanity. Doctor A's considered opinion that you are a

hypochondriac, Doctor B's pronouncement that you require psychiatric treatment,

and Doctor C's advice that you merely need more exercise and to quit smoking -

ALL THERE FOREVER. As we know (sadly, far better than most people) how inane and

inept so many physicians's opinions can be, and how downright harmful to us this

can be, I can't imagine losing the right to simply walk away from the bad

experience and seek better care. Under this newer, bigger, better plan,

however, you would now have to carry that trash around forever.

And trash it is! No legal mechanism exists to have the garbage expunged from

your record. That case of clap you picked up on leave in the Army? Yours forever

more. The abortion you had 20 years ago? The " depression " you began to exhibit

when the biotoxins first began to do their evil work and the Prozac prescription

that almost inevitably went with it? Yours until the day you die. The time you

ranted and raved about your new-found short temper and the boss that was " out to

do you in " ? Ooooh yeah. We wouldn't want to lose THAT one! (Hope you didn't

suggest anyone ought to just shoot the b*****d. That crack alone could cost you

your right to own firearms for several years in some states.)

No thanks, no thanks, NO THANKS. There is no such thing as a hack-proof

computer. Never was, never will be - not as long as fallible humans can touch

them. A simpler solution would be a single copy of your records on microfiche

which you could carry with you on a credit card or even smaller device, and

which any physician could read with a low-power microscope. Easy to update, too.

(I actually invented and prototyped those myself, some 20 years ago, though my

purposes were a bit different at the time.)

This whole database idea is like nuclear weapons. Sure, they're possible. But

just because we CAN do something doesn't make it a good idea. Last thing I want

is to be knocked unconcious in an accident, and have a corrupt database

consulted that produces a record mistakenly stating I am not allergic to

penicillin or something equally dangerous. " Oops " wouldn't quite cover it, would

it?

Do you really want to entrust all this kind of information to the same

government that insists mycotoxins could not possible have put us in the shape

we are in? Do you want all this made available, even coded for anonymity, to

even a fraction of the some 100,000+ government researchers, synchophants, and

low-level professional politicians who work for the very agency that wants to

promote and own this process? If that doesn't convince you, remember that this

is also the same agency that " owns " the FDA and allows its scientists to take

big money from Big Pharma while on the government payroll. And then there are

the health insurers, and the disability carriers now being looked at under the

Ricoh statutes? Yeah, they'll definitely want a piece of this baby. If they can

hold you hostage for your credit reports and income tax returns, they can do

this, too.

I'm just waiting for them to suggest how easy it would be to include all this

on the mag strip on the back of your driver's license, so it'll be right there

when you smack into a tree driving home some night on an icy road. The

paramedics can be really helpful to the cops by relating your 28-day stay in a

dry-out joint 10 years ago, and the cop decides to note in his report that he

" thought " he smelled beer on your breath. Never mind you've been stone cold

sober for a decade. Just try and get auto insurance coverage after THAT.

Unh-uh. I'm just not havin' it. You can call me a paranoid alarmist, but large

data systems have been my field for many years. I know my stuff. This thing is

just the opening sentence in a sci-fi horror story of magnificent proportion.

People WILL object. And so they will " scale it down " , regretful that they

" couldn't do more " . After all, they " only wanted to help " . And THAT is where you

should become very, very afraid - because this is how incrementalism works. We

need to close the door on this bad boy very firmly, and very soon.

Rantingly Yours,

Serena

Serena

www.freeboards.net/index.php?mforum=sickgovernmentb

---------------------------------

[Guest guest]

As I already said, but not as thoroughly, these are my exact

experiences as someone who ALWAYS gets a copy of my health records

myself. They are full of inaccuracies to put it mildly and sometimes

as Serena said, insults to boot, opinions, etc. not just 'the

facts'!!! We all know they don't even have the facts 99% of the time

to put them down.

It is also in your interest to get copy of all medical records

yourself is because I find many times things are flagged as irregular

on tests ignored by doctor and not mentioned to me at all. There is

nothing to say he actually looked at test results himself also. So

don't think you took the test and he has 'studied' the results and

alerted you to things you should be retested on or know about.

--- In , SERENA EDWARDS <pushcrash@y...>

wrote:

>

> This isn't even a question in my mind. If a thing CAN be abused, it

will. Sooner or later, no matter how good our intentions were to start

out with. I've spent enough time working on government IT systems to

state categorically and with zero hesitation that this is NOT where

you want to send private information. Of any kind, actually. As good

as it would be to have instant transferability of records, you are

talking about going far beyond the mere transfer of lab results and

past surgeries.

>

[Guest guest]

How do you get a copy of your health records.

Would I ask for a copy up to date (15yrs would make a lot of printing)

Then after that do you ask for a copy of the visit or test result at

each visit?

Elie

[Guest guest]

That's what I do.

elebel@... wrote:How do you get a copy of your health records.

Would I ask for a copy up to date (15yrs would make a lot of printing)

Then after that do you ask for a copy of the visit or test result at

each visit?

Elie

FAIR USE NOTICE:

---------------------------------

[Guest guest]

Elie, different offices have different policies. If your doctor requests them,

the office doing the copying usually will not charge you. But if you request

them, they may charge as much as a dollar a page. I would suggest every time

you go to the doctor, ask for a copy and start a file at home. I have started

doing that, but wish I would have done it from the beginning. I have never had

health problems before this and never even had a " primary care " doctor who I

would say was mine.

In a nutshell, ask what is the best way to get your records from each office.

If you have to ask a doctor request them, or if they would give them straight to

you.

Not really a good answer, but I hope that helps.

elebel@... wrote:

How do you get a copy of your health records.

Would I ask for a copy up to date (15yrs would make a lot of printing)

Then after that do you ask for a copy of the visit or test result at

each visit?

Elie

FAIR USE NOTICE:

---------------------------------

[Guest guest]

Elebel,

I really just make sure I get a copy of any lab work done, blood,

urine, etc. I don't try to get copy of doctor's notes or anything

unless it's from surgery and then those are very good to get, tells

what all was done in surgery and you will know much more than doctor

will tell you. When I get lab work done, I ask as soon as I register

that I'm there. I say I want a copy of lab work. Now since HIPPA

laws or whatever they are called, they make it harder to get. They

don't want patients to have them I think it is easier to see mistakes

made and used for lawsuits is my guess but anyway, the person who

should get them the easiest is YOU but new laws make it harder so my

determination is just more. As soon as I check in for blood work,

xrays etc, I say I want a copy of test results. Usually they say you

must get them from ordering doctor. That is what is new. They used

to be able to send you a copy at same time they sent results to

doctors, now they say ask your doctor, so as soon as I get home I call

and said I've taken them and want a copy. Usually they take my

request over the phone. If I'm at the doctor's office when he

prescribes tests for me, I ask while checking out. Just remember when

they ask if you have a copay or not, time to mention he is prescribing

(or took in his office tests) and say you want a copy then. Now they

usually have a form you have to fill out...if that isn't ever

ridiculous!!! Any doctor can get them with initial papers you sign as

new patient but you have to sign a form 'giving permission for them to

give YOU copies each time you request them'!!!! So say Dr Gets-it-

wrong-everytime has prescribed blood tests for me and I would like a

copy when he gets the results. They will hand you a short form where

it say I give Dr Gets-it-wrong-everytime permission to send ___________

(write in your own name) a copy of my results. It just takes a few

seconds.

Barb

> How do you get a copy of your health records.

> Would I ask for a copy up to date (15yrs would make a lot of

printing)

> Then after that do you ask for a copy of the visit or test result at

> each visit?

> Elie

[Guest guest]

> Elie, different offices have different policies. If your doctor

requests them, the office doing the copying usually will not charge

you. But if you request them, they may charge as much as a dollar a

page. I would suggest every time you go to the doctor, ask for a copy

and start a file at home. I have started doing that, but wish I would

have done it from the beginning. I have never had health problems

before this and never even had a " primary care " doctor who I would say

was mine.

When I was handling my mold case several years ago I had to get my

files from my doctors. I called the office to request a copy. I went

to the office and took my records and had them copied and then returned

them to the doctors office. I think I could only have them that day or

maybe 2 days. The files were interesting and had copies of other

doctors reporting to my family doctor. Some of my doctors made copies

themselves but my family doctor was going to charge so I copied them

myself.

[Guest guest]

OH, incidentally going to doctor first is new rules for bloodwork but

other tests like xrays or ultrasounds, I've been able to carry home

with me RIGHT AFTER TEST, before doctor gets them, so always ask,

different rules for different tests. I had ultrasound of pelvic area

twice before surgery this fall and to my amazement after ultrasound

when I said I would want copy of report for myself, they directed me

to hospital records department and they burned me a CD of whole

ultrasound on it right away. Report came a few days in the mail since

it had to be read yet. So I brought CD home and put it in my computer

and looked at the whole thing myself. When I consulted with another

doctor, I could hand him CD and he could see it himself, as well as

read the report. For a surgeon to be able to see inside you directly

for second opinion was really great. Now I have for my records and is

small and easy to keep. This is very new and different hospital I

went to for one after surgery didn't offer the CD so only a report.

> How do you get a copy of your health records.

> Would I ask for a copy up to date (15yrs would make a lot of

printing)

> Then after that do you ask for a copy of the visit or test result at

> each visit?

> Elie

[Guest guest]

--- In , " barb1283 " <barb1283@y...>

I do remember also getting the films of the cat scans and MMR. Had to

get them at the hospital where they took the tests.