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Texas Does Poor Job of Securing Patient Info
_Sharp'r_ writes "This new security audit from Texas is an example of why the solution to medical privacy isn't to store it all in a big government database. The report describes a myriad of problems with state health and welfare agency's information security. Some of the problems cited include lack of firewalls, wide open wireless access points and all the other "usual suspects" that we've come to expect from a government security solution. The network is especially vulnerable to internal misuse, according to the report. For example, 'poor access controls' allowed a Department of Health customer service employee to create 74 fraudulent birth certificates. The report found that many of the agencies' nearly 50,000 workers have access to "tremendous amounts of decentralized, confidential data." You can also access an html formatted version of the full report."
The real story has nothing to do with government databases. The story has to do with the fact that almost anyone, at any time, can get access to your medical data. Want to know how? Slip someone on the cleaning crew a Franklin. The original paper chart will be yours in minutes.
All the bullshit surrounding HIPAA and other requirements merely increase the paperwork required for medical professionals to do their job. If your wife wants to know if you've got VD, a simple subpoena will suffice. Since your insurance company is paying for your claims, they've got both a diagnosis and a treatment plan. Sure, you can have your privacy, but that means you're going to pay as you go.
Who the hell are you keeping your medical records private from? If you are a drunk and/or drug abuser, your coworkers, friends, and family already have a pretty good idea. If you have AIDS, anyone who you fuck should be told anyway.
What's the big idea if someone knows your A1C? Knowing these results isn't a problem, acting on them in a discriminatory matter is a problem. But for that, there are already guidelines in place, with legal precedence set.
There's another trick, at least in the US: medical pay is for shit. Doctors do okay, everyone else does lousy. The money is much better in porn sites. The money available to pay admins won't get you a competent person (except for me. I'm a cheap lay.) Where is all the money going? Lame ass stuff. Procedures to extend the life of a terminal cancer patient for an extra two months. Put more money into preventative care. Oh, wait, that was tried with HMO's. But every little pissant got annoyed because they couldn't see their holy shaman....errr specialist. Public programs (medicare and medicaid) pay reasonable amounts for 'emergency' care, but next to nothing for preventative maintenance.
Smoking is one of the deadliest scourges to face society, yet no insurance company covers nicotine replacement therapy, support groups, etc.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon