http://ambulancedriver.net/2009/03/concerns-over-patient-confidentiality-ii/ Reflections of a Prehospital Care Paramedic Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:39:54 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://ambulancedriver.net/2009/03/concerns-over-patient-confidentiality-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-1657 Jill Plusher Sat, 09 Jan 2010 03:05:02 +0000 http://ambulancedriver.net/?p=77#comment-1657 Health reform will ruin our system. Health reform will ruin our system.

]]> http://ambulancedriver.net/2009/03/concerns-over-patient-confidentiality-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-1648 South Park Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:14:47 +0000 http://ambulancedriver.net/?p=77#comment-1648 to be further series' or is that it after this one finishes? to be further series’ or is that it after this one finishes?

]]> http://ambulancedriver.net/2009/03/concerns-over-patient-confidentiality-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-20 HIPAA Guy Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:36:30 +0000 http://ambulancedriver.net/?p=77#comment-20 Duke, you are correct in saying that HIPAA is a morass. I have and am currently studying to become a Certified HIPAA Security Specialist, so I do have more than a bit of knowledge in this area. The goal of HIPAA was to make it impossible for personal health information to be accessed by someone not directly associated with the care of that specific patient. For the most part, people are unaware of how much of a pain this set of laws is not only to comply with but to enforce. For Ambulance Driver the example that came to my mind has to do with a third party contractor that is doing some sort of evaluation on patient care. They can be provided information such as: Sex, year of birth, aliment, treatment, even cost of care and family history – items that cannot be provided are: Name, full date of birth, address, phone number, social security number, etc. Again, if you can tie specific information to a specific patient HIPAA has been violated. Now, to the point – I, as a reader, am unable to determine that George Harrison, who lives in Chicago, broke his leg on the 2nd of March from this blog. As Ambulance Driver’s employer, I could not disclose patient information to unauthorized sources. Ring….Ring “Good Afternoon, Ambulance Driver’s Employer.” “Hello, I heard that a guy was picked up sometime yesterday by your service that broke his leg – could you tell me who this person was so I could contact them?” “No.” “Well, could you tell me at what address this occurred?” “No.” “What can you tell me?” “Nothing more than you already know.” The point of this exercise is that even if you tried to get specific patient information directly related to this blog, you would find your search in vein, much like putting toothpaste back in the tube. There is simply no way that this blog violates HIPAA, the way in which the blog is written and the precautions the author has taken in protecting the very thing that is being debated. Duke, you are correct in saying that HIPAA is a morass. I have and am currently studying to become a Certified HIPAA Security Specialist, so I do have more than a bit of knowledge in this area.
The goal of HIPAA was to make it impossible for personal health information to be accessed by someone not directly associated with the care of that specific patient. For the most part, people are unaware of how much of a pain this set of laws is not only to comply with but to enforce.
For Ambulance Driver the example that came to my mind has to do with a third party contractor that is doing some sort of evaluation on patient care. They can be provided information such as: Sex, year of birth, aliment, treatment, even cost of care and family history – items that cannot be provided are: Name, full date of birth, address, phone number, social security number, etc. Again, if you can tie specific information to a specific patient HIPAA has been violated.
Now, to the point – I, as a reader, am unable to determine that George Harrison, who lives in Chicago, broke his leg on the 2nd of March from this blog. As Ambulance Driver’s employer, I could not disclose patient information to unauthorized sources.
Ring….Ring
“Good Afternoon, Ambulance Driver’s Employer.”
“Hello, I heard that a guy was picked up sometime yesterday by your service that broke his leg – could you tell me who this person was so I could contact them?”
“No.”
“Well, could you tell me at what address this occurred?”
“No.”
“What can you tell me?”
“Nothing more than you already know.”
The point of this exercise is that even if you tried to get specific patient information directly related to this blog, you would find your search in vein, much like putting toothpaste back in the tube. There is simply no way that this blog violates HIPAA, the way in which the blog is written and the precautions the author has taken in protecting the very thing that is being debated.

]]> http://ambulancedriver.net/2009/03/concerns-over-patient-confidentiality-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-19 Jason DeRusha Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:17:36 +0000 http://ambulancedriver.net/?p=77#comment-19 Duke, I hope this can be worked out because I think you're performing an important service here. For me to track back and figure out a patient identity from your posts would be virtually impossible. Duke, I hope this can be worked out because I think you’re performing an important service here. For me to track back and figure out a patient identity from your posts would be virtually impossible.

]]>