HIPAA... We know it as that piece of paper we sign that says the doctor won't share our health information. Do you know what HIPAA stands for? Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Originally written to make sure that you had access to health insurance even if you changed jobs or moved states, it became a nightmare of regulations in regards to keeping your health records safe. And so you understand how serious the federal government was about this, it costs a person who violates HIPAA $10,000 and it costs the hospital, office, or other agency that has your records another $10,000 per incident!
There are some top secret ways you can get HIPAA to actually help you or your family member stay informed in the case of a medical problem. We have gotten used to signing that HIPAA form without realizing we can use it as a tool. Think about if you were in a serious car accident. Who might you want to know that you were in the hospital? Your spouse, your children, your pastor, your best friend, or your parent? List them on the HIPAA form in your primary care doctor’s office. If you have kids under 18, who might you want to know about their needs if you and your kids were both involved in the accident? Their daycare administrator, school nurse, babysitter, grandparent, your best friend, their best friend’s parent, or your rabbi? List them. Tell them they are listed so they can ask questions and have the doctor look up the records. If you are over 65, try to leave that list with every doctor you see and your local hospital. In theory, if your list is maintained in your primary care doctor's office and your medical records are online for other medical facilities to see, they should honor the HIPAA list that is at your primary care doctor's office.
There are some top secret ways you can get HIPAA to actually help you or your family member stay informed in the case of a medical problem. We have gotten used to signing that HIPAA form without realizing we can use it as a tool. Think about if you were in a serious car accident. Who might you want to know that you were in the hospital? Your spouse, your children, your pastor, your best friend, or your parent? List them on the HIPAA form in your primary care doctor’s office. If you have kids under 18, who might you want to know about their needs if you and your kids were both involved in the accident? Their daycare administrator, school nurse, babysitter, grandparent, your best friend, their best friend’s parent, or your rabbi? List them. Tell them they are listed so they can ask questions and have the doctor look up the records. If you are over 65, try to leave that list with every doctor you see and your local hospital. In theory, if your list is maintained in your primary care doctor's office and your medical records are online for other medical facilities to see, they should honor the HIPAA list that is at your primary care doctor's office.
On the flip side of that HIPAA form, if you know health information
about someone that is harming that person’s health, you can write a 1
page letter to anyone’s doctor about your concerns over their health. The
doctor isn’t allowed to respond to you about the note (unless you are on their
HIPAA list), but that doesn’t legally stop you from sharing what you know with
their doctor. This can often be the
difference between a patient getting routine care and getting excellent care,
because someone bothered to tell the doctor info the patient wasn’t sharing.While this may not be a big deal with physical health issues, it can be a huge source of information for the doctor when dealing with a patient with a mental illness or an addiction problem. These patients often hide how they are from their doctors and refuse to write family members into their HIPAA orders. But providers in both fields know how valuable it is to hear a family member's side or talk to a best friend. They see and report things that sometimes the mentally ill or addicted either don't see in themselves or don't want to admit to.
You may also find that a simple one page letter explaining what you see to your aging parent's or grandparent's doctor, helps the doctor to give your loved one the best care possible. Information like, he's not a safe driver, she seems more exhausted lately, or he is falling a lot more, can help a geriatric doctor take a closer look at potential aging issues that seniors can often cover for the short tern they are in the doctor's office. I know what you are all thinking right now.... What was that about their driving? Medical providers in NY can request a driver's evaluation of a senior that is covered by Medicare. The senior then takes their car and drives around with a physical or occupational therapist who specializes in driving skills. They usually get a road test, some retraining classes, and necessary modifications made to their car for free. These are all designed to help your loved one not be the next 81 year old who drives into a porch or store front. As a warning though, if the driving specialist doesn't believe coaching and modifications to the car will make your loved one a safe driver, they have the legal right to immediately pull that person's driver's license. Then again, if they are unsafe and, for whatever reason, are unteachable to become a safe driver, you don't want them driving anyway. (AND you knew that, that's why you asked the doctor for a medical driving review.)
So there you have it, a quick summary about HIPAA, the first of many not well thought out medical laws impacting health.. Used properly, you can make sure the people you really want to know what is happening to you in a medical crisis can find out. Skirted around legally, you can make sure that your loved one's doctor has the most accurate info about your loved one's health, even when the loved one doesn't want you to share.
Here's hoping this helps you to
Be Healthy!
You may also find that a simple one page letter explaining what you see to your aging parent's or grandparent's doctor, helps the doctor to give your loved one the best care possible. Information like, he's not a safe driver, she seems more exhausted lately, or he is falling a lot more, can help a geriatric doctor take a closer look at potential aging issues that seniors can often cover for the short tern they are in the doctor's office. I know what you are all thinking right now.... What was that about their driving? Medical providers in NY can request a driver's evaluation of a senior that is covered by Medicare. The senior then takes their car and drives around with a physical or occupational therapist who specializes in driving skills. They usually get a road test, some retraining classes, and necessary modifications made to their car for free. These are all designed to help your loved one not be the next 81 year old who drives into a porch or store front. As a warning though, if the driving specialist doesn't believe coaching and modifications to the car will make your loved one a safe driver, they have the legal right to immediately pull that person's driver's license. Then again, if they are unsafe and, for whatever reason, are unteachable to become a safe driver, you don't want them driving anyway. (AND you knew that, that's why you asked the doctor for a medical driving review.)
So there you have it, a quick summary about HIPAA, the first of many not well thought out medical laws impacting health.. Used properly, you can make sure the people you really want to know what is happening to you in a medical crisis can find out. Skirted around legally, you can make sure that your loved one's doctor has the most accurate info about your loved one's health, even when the loved one doesn't want you to share.
Here's hoping this helps you to
Be Healthy!
