Concerns Over Patient Confidentiality Part III
Over the past few days Ambulance Driver has had several conversations with the ambulance department operations manager concerning this blog’s 911 Update series. On my initiative alone, and not at the urging of my employer, the following changes have been made – in addition to those policies referenced here.
- My bio, which only appeared for a very few days, has been removed.
- My employer is not named on the blog
- In the 911 Update series, the reader cannot trust the day of service, the patient’s age, sex, or location. The order in which the runs occurred also cannot be trusted.
What remains could be described as a “fictionalized” account of a typical day in the life of an urban Paramedic. Were the runs actually made and was the “essence” of the calls preserved? The answer is “yes.” Will the reader be able to track a specific call to a specific patient? My answer to that is, “I don’t see how anyone could.”
In addition to all of this, it has come to the Ambulance Driver’s attention that many of his co-workers are using MySpace, Facebook and Twitter in a manner that has not been as circumspect as this writer has attempted to be
Be forewarned.