> > Regarding HIPAA - In most cases, you probably signed some sort of waiver > > that gave the doctor permission to make these calls. It's all in the > > fine print. > > Please be extremely careful when posting things like this. For HIPPA > purposes, it is not in the fine print. It has to be clearly disclosed and > documented. Then it has to follow exact protocols to make those > calls. Even then, some types of doctors are never allowed to do this.
Exactly. And many don't have proper forms that allow you to opt out of any contact with someone other than yourself or to allow listing of exactly who can be contacted and exactly which information may be left with that person (example, these people can be told of an appt, these others can have lab results left with them). You should also be able to specify if a msg can be left on an answering machine or not. > An example of this, there is a pending lawsuit against a medical software > vendor. They pushed a automated calling device to users who upgraded to > software that was supposed to be HIPPA compliant, but did not explain > clearly that in many cases the users would be precluded from using those > devices under HIPPA. I predict this will be a very fertile source of litigation in future years (gee, that takes lots of insight, doesn't it?). Not just on software, but against individual companies for revealing information. How much do you think you could get if you were a temp working on temp-to-hire and a dr's office revealed you were being AIDS tested and subsequently you were not hired by the employer? How much lost wages from age 25 to retirement in a high paid job? What about mental anguish, etc? Most offices treat these regs as a PITA and a lot of bother about nothing -- I imagine this will continue until they get hurt severely in the pocketbook at least once. Even a simple sign in sheet can leak too much info -- if there are several specialists in an office and someone sees which one you are signed in for, they have more information about what you are being treated for (although it would seem that signing into a dentist's office or a GP's office would be innocent info, it is still not allowed for disclosure). K. --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus] To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html List Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/
