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TFA pointed to some reasons: "Random scenario: a burglary gang gains access to the database and can thereby identify patients aged over 80 living alone in up-m
by polymatter 13y ago
TFA pointed to some reasons:
"Random scenario: a burglary gang gains access to the database and can thereby identify patients aged over 80 living alone in up-market neighbourhoods who have recently been admitted to hospital with conditions suggesting that they will be vulnerable but not supported by full-time carers. A religious organization targets men of a certain age who are HIV positive. Or women below a certain age who are single and pregnant. Or an insurance company notes that a patient made a mistake in their declaration of a pre-existing condition, and thereby invalidates their claim. An identity thief uses the postcode and date of birth, in conjunction with a copy of the public electoral register, to pick victims. The possibilities are endless"
I can add a few more. A wife beater looks up his wife's records to see if she has gone into hospital. A rape victim doesn't want her work colleagues to idly google her medical records and find out. A hopeful job candidate doesn't want her interviewer to know about her problems with self-harm 15 years ago.
Perhaps none of those situations are relevant to you. But they apply to some people and that's why we keep all records private.
- jcampbell1 13y agoI agree with those hypothetical possibilities. The other type of failure is also possible. My dad recently had a detached retina. He spent 5 hours getting his own medical records. In the medical records, it said he was given a dose of Cipro. "Which is funny because I am deathly allergic to Cipro, and since I am alive I certainly wasn't given Cipro." Had he not spent 5 hours getting medical records and writing letters, some future doctor could easily kill him based on that erroneous medical record. Other than retired people, who has the time to penetrate the HIPAA mess. It can be lifesaving.
- polymatter 13y agoI think it is easier to make private information public, than it is to make public information private. We can mitigate that sort of failure with things like medical bracelets (http://www.mediband.co.uk/ http://www.mediband.co.uk/). Paramedics check for medical bracelet, necklace and wallet information cards. One of the first words any medical staff will ask is about allergies. I recognize that that is hardly ideal and indeed some lives are undoubtedly lost because of it. But I think going public with medical records is too far.
- jcampbell1 13y agoFully public is clearly too far. I just wish I could access my medical records like I access my own email. As far as I understand, HIPAA regulations make this illegal to even think about. That is what I mean by "extreme".
- dragonwriter 13y ago> I just wish I could access my medical records like I access my own email. Why do you think you can't? They can't actually be sent to you over unsecured email, but they certainly can be provided to you securely, and the access methods can be very similar to what you would do with email. I don't think anyone offers a data dump rather than a UI into a hosted product, but I don't see any legal reason under HIPAA for that.