“Medical practice is not knitting and weaving and the labor of the hands, but it must be inspired with soul and be filled with understanding and equipped with the gift of keen observation . . ..”
- Maimonides (1135 - 1204)
Everyone who has filled a prescription has experienced part of the privacy protections implemented in 2003 by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). This is the law that created privacy standards to protect your medical records and other health information provided to health plans, doctors, hospitals and other health care practitioners. It is designed to give you access to your medical records and more control over how your personal medical information is used and disclosed. You may experience HIPAA in action at your pharmacy when picking up or ordering your prescriptions. Privacy conscious pharmacies provide a buffer zone between you and other consumers at the order or pick up window so no one can overhear your transaction. You need to be aware of this.
Even with the HIPAA rules, you need to remember to protect your own medical privacy during a visit to the doctor, x-ray office, or dentist. More and more people are experiencing medical identity theft, where a person uses your identity to acquire medical services. You must guard your personal medical information as you would guard any other personally identifiable information. Treat your medical id card as you would a credit card because for a $10.00 co-pay someone could have access to possibly $1 million dollars worth of medical services, and your medical records would be a mess.
However, it is not just your medical id card that you need to be conscious of. Here’s the story that inspired this article. I had gone to the hospital to get some x-rays and tests done. The person managing the check-in desk asked for my health care card and my driver’s license. I asked, “What are you going to do with my driver's license?” She replied that they were going to make a copy of it. Now, here is the privacy faux pas~ it is appropriate to ask to see your driver’s license to confirm the identity on your medical id card, but not to make a copy of it. I advised them that they could confirm that I am Darity Wesley from my driver's license but that they were not going to copy it. I got a blank stare and then her supervisor said, “Just write 'patient refused.'” No copy was made...
This situation is not uncommon. I have heard this kind of story a number of times. You do not have to allow people to make a copy of your driver’s license. Even most Departments of Motor Vehicles are prohibited by law from providing that information to others! If someone is asking you to allow them that privilege, ask them why. Unless they have a good reason and a good privacy policy, then decline. The more copies of your driver’s license there are floating out in the world, the higher your chances of being a victim of identity theft or fraud. A lot of states are still using, or including, your Social Security number on your driver's license. Check your driver's license. Is it there?
Another concern should be raised by the fact that databases now hold our “electronic medical records” and they have the ability to attach photographs to our medical records- oh goodie! Again, I refused to be photographed for my “electronic medical records” and this time advised the person at the check-in desk, “Just write 'patient refused'” -- It is enough, with the number of security breaches of computerized systems by unauthorized persons, that they may be able to access personal medical information, they do not need to know what the person looks like too!
