Before 1996, Americans didn’t really have a choice in keeping their health insurance if they changed jobs or lost their jobs. Before 1996, personal medical information could be obtained and used for a variety of purposes.
But all of that changed with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). All Americans are familiar with the new rules that are provided to them at their doctor’s office and the new disclosure documents that need to be signed. In essence, HIPAA has changed medicine and healthcare in America, and those changes are for the better.
Yet, prior to the passage of HIPAA, there were groups and individuals arguing for patient privacy rights. These groups have failed to recognize that the passage of HIPAA should have put them out of business. Instead of recognizing that they aren’t needed, these patient privacy rights groups now make up lies and do everything possible to instill fear in patients. There’s still a lot of money to be made for scaring senior citizens.
With the news that the administration of President Barack Obama wants to push health IT records has set off a new jihad from the patient privacy rights zealots. These groups don’t want electronic medical records that could save patient’s lives. By definition, electronic medical records could be viewed by several different doctors. According to the folks behind this scheme, if a patient has an electronic medical record and then gets rush to the emergency room, the ER staff can’t access the patient’s file without explicit approval from the patient. So if the patient is unconscious, too bad for them.
This is going to be a fascinating battle to watch in Congress.
