Saturday, December 25, 2004

HIPAA and electronic medical records in one hospital

The Marshfield News Herald (Marshfield, WI) has an article on privacy and hospital records that also briefly discusses some patient attitudes to new processes and procedures:

Marshfield News Herald - Hospitals work on protecting digital records:

"...While the federal government has cracked down on medical privacy, some patients say they were not actually concerned their privacy was being invaded, be it from hackers or from employees within the health care system.

'I have no privacy issues at all, because I could care less if other people saw my medical records,' said Lisa Schilling, 32, of Marshfield. 'What do I have in there that is so good to see?'

Schilling said the HIPAA regulations are actually an inconvenience and would like to help her husband with his medical information 'without them making me sign a piece of paper. It's almost getting too carried away.'

Under HIPAA privacy rules, an individual can schedule an appointment for a spouse but cannot have access to information such as laboratory tests without express written consent from his or her spouse...."

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