Peter Frishauf, founder of Medscape comments on HIPAA
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Whether you're an American clinician or patient, there's no escaping the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Republicans and Democrats assured us it would make healthcare better.
But has it?
Unless you're a HIPAA consultant, a compliance officer, or some other bureaucrat, the answer is generally no.
The thing that bothers me most about HIPAA is its expensive, annoying, and -- in the end -- meaningless implementation. Clinicians have to get all patients to sign forms, which they then file, or they get into trouble, and could face huge fines. Insurance companies must do the same, but then require patients to forget about their privacy if they want insurance. So most do.
Hospitals cringe at the thought of HIPAA fines. Their well-paid consultants design elaborate, expensive systems to ensure compliance. One hospital I recently visited had 2 large signs -- each about 6 feet tall and jammed with type, one in English, one in Spanish -- high behind the reception desk in their emergency department. "Your Rights under HIPAA," the headline declared.
Right. I'm sure this was of great comfort to the heat stroke victims lying on stretchers waiting. Or perhaps the walk-ins? Will they gain solace by reading the thousands of words of bureaucratic bull before they get care?
I will concede one good thing about HIPAA, and that's the health insurance portability. Title I protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families when they change or lose their jobs -- and this part of the law is working.
But the much ballyhooed "privacy" parts of the law are a failure that could easily be repealed with financial savings to healthcare and no adverse effects that I can think of. In fact, US medicine without these provisions could be better, as information sharing would be easier. And that usually helps patients a lot more than it hurts them.
That's my opinion, and I'm Peter Frishauf, founder of Medscape.[1]
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References- Frishauf P. Medscape -- the first 5 years. MedGenMed. 2005;7(2). Available at: http://medgenmed.medscape.com/viewarticle/504736. Accessed November 9, 2005.
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http://images.medscape.com/pi/global...nts/spacer.gifPeter Frishauf, is the principal of PFKC Ltd. Corp., a healthcare and new media consultancy based in New York, NY. He can be reached at
pfrishauf@yahoo.com .
Readers are encouraged to respond to George Lundberg, MD, Editor of
MedGenMed, for the editor's eye only or for possible publication via email:
glundberg@medscape.net
Disclosure: Peter Frishauf has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
http://images.medscape.com/pi/global...nts/spacer.gif Medscape General Medicine. 2006;7(4):52. ©2006 Medscape
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Peter Frishauf, founder of Medscape comments on HIPAA
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