{"id":12131,"date":"2007-11-08T13:12:03","date_gmt":"2007-11-08T20:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2007\/11\/08\/doctors-and-e-mail.html"},"modified":"2007-11-08T13:12:03","modified_gmt":"2007-11-08T20:12:03","slug":"doctors_and_e_mail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/11\/08\/doctors_and_e_mail.html","title":{"rendered":"Doctors and e-mail"},"content":{"rendered":"

GeekPress<\/a> forwards on an article from a doctor about why they tend not to use e-mail, etc.<\/p>\n

When I first went live with my practice on September 24th, 2007, I received plenty of criticism regarding patient privacy and security. Many people questioned my compliance with HIPAA, a federal law the vast majority of physicians and institutions in America have to abide by in order to protect patients\u2019 private health information (PHI). PHI is defined as any situation where there is an identifying factor (such as name or SSN) associated with a diagnosis. For example, John Smith is telling me about his seasonal allergy symptoms via AIM. Under HIPAA, if I were IM\u2019ing with a patient using an unsecure chat application, like AIM, I could face thousands of dollars in fines. If I revealed this health information with criminal intent, I could face up to $250,000 in fines and 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n

If I signed contracts with insurance companies and\/or Medicare and submitted online claims to these companies I would have to abide by HIPAA. My entire practice would be illegal. I could not email, IM, text, or video chat anyone using the ubiquitous most popular communication apps (like AIM, gmail, etc.) without breaking federal law. They are not encrypted and considered not secure. I would be fined out of existence and, if argued in court, I could even face years of jail time.<\/p>\n

If any of you are wondering why your own doctor doesn\u2019t communicate with you using email, IM, and other ways that simply make sense in today\u2019s world, wonder no further. They break federal law with every email and IM since the vast majority of physicians have contracts with insurance companies or Medicare.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Because the doctor in question doesn’t take insurance, he says doesn’t have to be HIPAA compliant — so he uses e-mail all the time, etc.  Granted, legality <\/em>aside, that doesn’t get around the potential ethical <\/em>problem of someone chatting with him on IM, or seeing an e-mail, who shouldn’t (e.g., I sit down at my wife’s computer, glance at her e-mail, see an exchange with Dr. Smith about her going on birth control when I thought we were trying to have a baby … etc.). <\/p>\n

Doctor e-mail, though, is pretty damned useful.  Kaiser now has a secure e-mail service tied into their web system.  Just as I can go online and sign in and order a prescription refill, or make an appointment, or check my lab results, I can also leave a message with my doc, and get a notification (by e-mail) to come back to the site when the doc has left a reply for me.  Much more convenient than trying to play phone tag or my scheduling a visit.  Not quite <\/em>as easy as messages popping up in a chat window or in my Gmail account (and the interface is kinda sucky), but it’s pretty good, and as or more secure than anything else online.  Spiffy stuff, and a good compromise between privacy and utility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GeekPress forwards on an article from a doctor about why they tend not to use e-mail, etc. When I first went live with my practice on September 24th, 2007, I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-hi-tech"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6910,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/12\/03\/why_we_need_hip.html","url_meta":{"origin":12131,"position":0},"title":"Why we need HIPAA for everyone around Christmas","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 3-Dec-04 4:24pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The HIPAA Act included provisions for privacy regarding personal, identifiable medical information. But docs and clinics have long been careful about privacy, e.g., not leaving a message on the answering...","rel":"","context":"In "Potpourri"","block_context":{"text":"Potpourri","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/potpourri"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38893,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/09\/30\/obamacares-so-confusing.html","url_meta":{"origin":12131,"position":1},"title":"Obamacare's\u00a0so CONFUSING!!!!","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 30-Sep-13 8:24pm","format":false,"excerpt":"That's the current mantra\u00a0from the Anti-ACA Right (along with \"Better the Government Fall than People with Pre-Existing Conditions Retain Coverage,\" but let's leave that aside for the moment). \u00a0And yet, USA Today managed to decipher the ACA\u00a0on one page (with big graphics and lots of white space) this last week,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29955,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/08\/24\/eat-drink-and-possibly-be-ill.html","url_meta":{"origin":12131,"position":2},"title":"Eat, Drink, and Possibly Be Ill","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 24-Aug-12 11:59pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Denver restaurants by health inspector fines in 2011-2012.I'm pretty sure the only one I've ever eaten at was at the Damascus Grill, and that was, of a mercy, oh, about 17 years ago. Embedded Link Image Viewer Google+: View post on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32643,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/02\/27\/the-funniest-thing-i-read-today.html","url_meta":{"origin":12131,"position":3},"title":"The funniest thing I read today","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 27-Feb-13 2:36pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I still have the giggles trying to think of something witty to say as Les describes the picture in question. Let's just say it was a hoot.Reshared post from +Les JenkinsMy glamorous life as professional patient model. http:\/\/wp.me\/pHP04-3kx\u00a0 My glamorous life as professional patient model. I have a great doctor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20987,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/05\/08\/unblogged-bits-sun-8-may-11-1130.html","url_meta":{"origin":12131,"position":4},"title":"Unblogged Bits (Sun. 8-May-11 1130)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 8-May-11 11:30am","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... Health Care Vouchers vs. Program Cuts by Experts - Short story: vouchers, like cash in the private market, work best under set circumstances (heavy competition, opportunity by both buyers and sellers to intelligently weigh\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Potpourri"","block_context":{"text":"Potpourri","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/potpourri"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5245,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/04\/20\/weighty_matters.html","url_meta":{"origin":12131,"position":5},"title":"Weighty matters","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 20-Apr-04 6:31am","format":false,"excerpt":"As of this morning, I'm halfway toward my \"goal.\" I started at 238 on 1 March, and, when asked what I wanted to aim toward, said dropping to 200 at...","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/health"},"img":{"alt_text":"Weight loss graph","src":"\/blog\/images\/weightloss0404.png","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}