4 ms·

Probably medication fraud. They mention heightened scrutiny around controlled substances (with amphetamines for ADHD as an example) on the FAQ. https://help.he

Probably medication fraud. They mention heightened scrutiny around controlled substances (with amphetamines for ADHD as an example) on the FAQ. https://help.headway.co/hc/en-us/articles/29673299878676-Documenting-controlled-substances-prescriptions-during-session-confirmation#h_01J67J9KV1ABXECBE2FYRGA5AC https://help.headway.co/hc/en-us/articles/29673299878676-Doc... The risk is that a drug dealer or addict pays people to use their identities and possibly insurance info, pretends to be them and to have ADHD in telehealth sessions, and stockpiles Adderall.

kotaKat 5mo ago
[flagged]
- sonofhans 5mo ago
  Government-issued IDs work and human verification of them is largely successful. This is not about correct verification, it’s about cheap machine-based verification. The dehumanization of it is part of how they plan to make money. So yes verification is needed. We can do that just fine without more facial recognition intruding into everyday affairs.
  - kotaKat 5mo ago
    [flagged]
    - Traubenfuchs 5mo ago
      > Viagra, Ozempic and ketamine, legal meth You sound condescending but each of those substances is currently positively life changing to MILLIONS of people every day. Viagra can give you your sex life back, ozempic can give you a healthy body again and ketamin and legal meth can return you to being a functional and happy human.
      - skeeter2020 5mo ago
        and each of these substances is widely mis-prescribed, abused and has huge illegal markets. Just because the OP obviously referred to this scenario doesn't mean they discounted your interpretation of big pharma. Also since you want to promote a super narrow perspective, Ozempic is a type-2 diabetes drug that has pivoted to the more lucrative weight-lose market and Viagra a pretty ho-hum hypertension drug that makes a better boner pill, so your takes are technically "side-effects"
  - smelendez 5mo ago
    I was trying to think what the least intrusive option here would be. You need to verify that the patient has ID matching their name and face, which could be done offline by a notary or other trusted party if a patient prefers. But you also need to confirm the person showing up for the online sessions is actually the verified patient, and I'm not sure how you do that to maximize privacy. I guess you could take a photo at the in-person verification, have the medical provider sign off that it's the same person as their patient, and then destroy the photo?
    - sonofhans 5mo ago
      Right, it’s a hairball. And all to enable a remote-first, VC-backed business model. Most people would rather see doctors in person.
      - smelendez 5mo ago
        I definitely know people who prefer online therapy because they have a busy schedule or live far from a therapist who meets their needs (e.g., people in rural areas). Some people also prefer online visits for other care, usually things they can self-diagnose: a recurring sinus infection, erectile dysfunction, hair loss, etc.
- jdgoesmarching 5mo ago
  Every user of Headway is required to submit to this, regardless of medication status, or they lose access to the platform (and their therapist). HN has come a long way if we’re considering it a nothing burger that sending scans of your face to a 3rd party verification company is required to not lose access to your healthcare provider.
  - wat10000 5mo ago
    HN is filled with the most ridiculous nonsense, hence my username.
  - chrisweekly 5mo ago
    wait - even for interactions with non-prescribers? that's even less defensible!
    - banannaeugene 5mo ago
      [dead]
- wat10000 5mo ago
  I've done telehealth from multiple providers and they've never required a biometric scan. If this is "of course" then why would that be?
olyjohn 5mo ago
How many people would you need to stack up in therapy just to get enough Adderall to sell to make money? One person is only going to be able to get a 30 day supply at a time. Most people taking it for recreation are taking much higher doses than prescribed. I don't think that a drug dealer is going to be organized enough to do hour long sessions every week for 30 different people and not get noticed.
- smelendez 5mo ago
  The ADHD patients aren’t necessarily the ones doing weekly talk therapy. They’re meeting occasionally for a quick chat with a psychiatrist. I agree, if you’re just doing talk therapy it seems overkill. But they may have concerns about emergencies, where a patient is in crisis and you realize you don’t actually know who they are. And insurance fraud: Alice has health insurance, her friend Betty does not but needs therapy, so she signs up under Alice’s name (“oh, I actually go by Betty.”) In general, I don’t think it’s that outlandish that the company wants to know definitively who its patients are and be able to demonstrate it does, but hopefully they can come up with more options for verification.
siva7 5mo ago
Well, that doesn't scale to be worth the risk, and should be immidiately obvious to any dealer with an iq higher than room temperature.

kotaKat 5mo ago

[flagged]

sonofhans 5mo ago
Government-issued IDs work and human verification of them is largely successful. This is not about correct verification, it’s about cheap machine-based verification. The dehumanization of it is part of how they plan to make money. So yes verification is needed. We can do that just fine without more facial recognition intruding into everyday affairs.
- kotaKat 5mo ago
  [flagged]
  - Traubenfuchs 5mo ago
    > Viagra, Ozempic and ketamine, legal meth You sound condescending but each of those substances is currently positively life changing to MILLIONS of people every day. Viagra can give you your sex life back, ozempic can give you a healthy body again and ketamin and legal meth can return you to being a functional and happy human.
    - skeeter2020 5mo ago
      and each of these substances is widely mis-prescribed, abused and has huge illegal markets. Just because the OP obviously referred to this scenario doesn't mean they discounted your interpretation of big pharma. Also since you want to promote a super narrow perspective, Ozempic is a type-2 diabetes drug that has pivoted to the more lucrative weight-lose market and Viagra a pretty ho-hum hypertension drug that makes a better boner pill, so your takes are technically "side-effects"
- smelendez 5mo ago
  I was trying to think what the least intrusive option here would be. You need to verify that the patient has ID matching their name and face, which could be done offline by a notary or other trusted party if a patient prefers. But you also need to confirm the person showing up for the online sessions is actually the verified patient, and I'm not sure how you do that to maximize privacy. I guess you could take a photo at the in-person verification, have the medical provider sign off that it's the same person as their patient, and then destroy the photo?
  - sonofhans 5mo ago
    Right, it’s a hairball. And all to enable a remote-first, VC-backed business model. Most people would rather see doctors in person.
    - smelendez 5mo ago
      I definitely know people who prefer online therapy because they have a busy schedule or live far from a therapist who meets their needs (e.g., people in rural areas). Some people also prefer online visits for other care, usually things they can self-diagnose: a recurring sinus infection, erectile dysfunction, hair loss, etc.
jdgoesmarching 5mo ago
Every user of Headway is required to submit to this, regardless of medication status, or they lose access to the platform (and their therapist). HN has come a long way if we’re considering it a nothing burger that sending scans of your face to a 3rd party verification company is required to not lose access to your healthcare provider.
- wat10000 5mo ago
  HN is filled with the most ridiculous nonsense, hence my username.
- chrisweekly 5mo ago
  wait - even for interactions with non-prescribers? that's even less defensible!
  - banannaeugene 5mo ago
    [dead]
wat10000 5mo ago
I've done telehealth from multiple providers and they've never required a biometric scan. If this is "of course" then why would that be?

olyjohn 5mo ago

How many people would you need to stack up in therapy just to get enough Adderall to sell to make money? One person is only going to be able to get a 30 day supply at a time. Most people taking it for recreation are taking much higher doses than prescribed. I don't think that a drug dealer is going to be organized enough to do hour long sessions every week for 30 different people and not get noticed.

smelendez 5mo ago
The ADHD patients aren’t necessarily the ones doing weekly talk therapy. They’re meeting occasionally for a quick chat with a psychiatrist. I agree, if you’re just doing talk therapy it seems overkill. But they may have concerns about emergencies, where a patient is in crisis and you realize you don’t actually know who they are. And insurance fraud: Alice has health insurance, her friend Betty does not but needs therapy, so she signs up under Alice’s name (“oh, I actually go by Betty.”) In general, I don’t think it’s that outlandish that the company wants to know definitively who its patients are and be able to demonstrate it does, but hopefully they can come up with more options for verification.

siva7 5mo ago

Well, that doesn't scale to be worth the risk, and should be immidiately obvious to any dealer with an iq higher than room temperature.