Medical Privacy Laws Highly Ineffectual

Rick Zeman writes "According to the Washington Post, since Americans gained statutory privacy for their medical records backed by the US Federal Government (via HIPAA), the Bush administration has received thousands of complaints alleging violations but has not imposed a single civil fine and has prosecuted just two criminal cases saying that they were pursuing 'voluntary compliance.'" From the article: "'It's like when you're driving a car,' said consultant Gary Christoph of Teradata Government Systems of Dayton, Ohio. 'If you are speeding down the highway and no one is watching, you're much more likely to speed. The problem with voluntary compliance is, it doesn't seem to be motivating people to comply.'"

Comments

Re:Why HIPPA is broken

[callistra.moonshadow]

Sure, I agree that there are reasons for HIPPA. I used to work at a firm that required HIPPA certification and I hold a current HIPPA cert. What is troublesome is how the HIPPA laws are used to either avoid dealing with things that are broken, or that they don't necessarily protect the so-called protected information. It could also lead to a person's death if not handled by someone that can bend the rules when the exceptions arise. That's what has me concerned - the lack of a plan for when things don't flow through the gates as expected. It has nothing to do with which adminstration is in power and everything to do with what makes logical sense. The way a hospital enforces HIPPA is broken - at least in my opinion from personal experience.