HIPPA Frustration

[Buckeyephan]

On Tuesday, my mother-in-law had surgery. To our total frustration, her physician could only tell us that she had done well in surgery and was in recovery. When we asked about her health issue, she told us that because of HIPPA, she was not able to share any of that information. At the age of 88, she is struggling to make sensible health decisions. My husband is her only relative and was blocked from being her advocate because of this governmental rule.

The purpose of this post is to urge you, especially those who no longer have a spouse, to make sure that those who love you have the ability to get the important information to help you in case of illness. On your next visit, please make sure that your doctor is given permission to share facts with those who should know them. As we age, it is vital that we have all the help we need to maintain our good health.

[marianne237]

Thank you for this good advice. It's something that not all of us would think of until the last minute.

[billethkid]

HIPPA a good example of penalizing the majority to correct the few that had or will have issues.

HIPPA a significant waste of time and money and gets in the way of what the real people need everyday. Millions and millions of pounds of paper.....millions and billions of $$$.......special interest lawmakers directed overkill.

[BarryRX]

HIPPA a good example of penalizing the majority to correct the few that had or will have issues.

HIPPA a significant waste of time and money and gets in the way of what the real people need everyday. Millions and millions of pounds of paper.....millions and billions of $$$.......special interest lawmakers directed overkill.

There are many good parts about a law that protects the privacy of my health records, among other things.

Increased awareness. HIPAA has certainly made clinicians more sensitive to their responsibility to protect patients’ medical information.
Streamlined insurance claim system. In what will likely be HIPAA’s most important immediate improvement, it simplifies interactions between health-care providers and the insurance industry. HIPAA has promulgated 10 National Standards for Electronic Data Interchange for the transmission of health-care information. These include standards for eligibility and response times, referral certification and authorization, claims and encounter information, payment and remittance advice, and claims status.
As a result, HIPAA provides 1 standard form for submitting claims—compared to the 400 different insurance claim forms in use previously. This change, at least, will likely save administrative work in doctors’ offices.
Privacy assurance adapted to the electronic age. Of course, the issue of privacy itself cannot be overlooked. HIPAA’s security and privacy provisions are necessary to help safeguard health information housed on computers and accessed through the Internet.
When medical records are stored and transmitted in electronic form, the risk for unauthorized access is higher than with paper records. The “low-tech” nature of medical records handwritten by physicians ensured a measure of privacy. Such records are largely illegible and often cannot be clearly interpreted, even by other doctors, and are therefore of inconsistent utility. The need to physically find and photocopy handwritten records stored in locked file cabinets poses another deterrent. Health information that is neatly typed and saved to a central computer server offers much greater potential for access by hackers and other evildoers.

[Carl in Tampa]

On Tuesday, my mother-in-law had surgery. To our total frustration, her physician could only tell us that she had done well in surgery and was in recovery. When we asked about her health issue, she told us that because of HIPPA, she was not able to share any of that information. At the age of 88, she is struggling to make sensible health decisions. My husband is her only relative and was blocked from being her advocate because of this governmental rule.

The purpose of this post is to urge you, especially those who no longer have a spouse, to make sure that those who love you have the ability to get the important information to help you in case of illness. On your next visit, please make sure that your doctor is given permission to share facts with those who should know them. As we age, it is vital that we have all the help we need to maintain our good health.

Good advice.

If you inquire you will probably find that every doctor's office you use already has a pre-printed HIPPA release form that can be filled out to authorize the release of your medical information to whomever you designate; it need not be a relative although it may be.

It is also important to have an Advance Medical Directive designating a Health Care Surrogate, who would be authorized to make medical decisions for you in the event you become incapacitated from communicating your wishes, such as a person in a coma.

Your doctor's office and/or the hospital where surgery will take place may have this form. It would probably be relatively inexpensive to consult a lawyer to assure the form you fill out meets the requirements of your state.

Most of my property is in a Living Trust, which includes the AMD and other documents to handle medical, disability and property disposition questions without resorting to the courts.

[Bizdoc]

You should also have a Durable Medical Power of Attorney for yourself, spouse, and parents, etc. I keep a .pdf copy of all on my cell phone since emergencies rarely occur while you are next to your file cabinet. I also have a summary medical history of each and list of meds on phone. Note that some states(like MD) let you combine durable medical POA with living will/advance directives and some don't (like VA and WV).

Also note that FL is somewhat odd in how it handles DNR orders. Out of state DNRs are likely to be ignored as not conforming to FL law.

[TraceyMooreRN]

You can at anytime call and ask the nurse to check with the patient to see if it is okay to release medical information to you over the phone. When the patients are registered for surgery they are given a passcode that the patient can deliver to whoever they want information to be given too.
This happens all the time in the hospital. Family calling and checking. Designate one family member to get the information. Nurses don't have time to deliver the same messages over and over to multiple family members.