In recent months, Los Angeles Times consumer columnist David Lazarus has disclosed the scummy practices of several national pharmacy chains, including misleading, if not outright lying, about charging customers for prescriptions they didn’t order, and telling them that their flu shots aren’t covered by their insurance plans when, in fact, they are. In a column….
Continue ReadingPatient Privacy
A Hospital Breaches a Patient’s Privacy to Fight the Patient’s Claims of Bad Billing
Unless there’s a subpoena, no one may review your medical records except the practitioners who treat you and the facilities where they do it, the insurance company that covers you and hospital overseers charged with evaluating doctors’ competency. It’s federal law-the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Penalties for breaching medical record privacy are….
Continue ReadingMedical Apps: When Sharing Goes Too Far
There’s an app for that. Ever since Apple claimed primacy over the smartphone universe, we’ve all become familiar with that refrain. And as noted in a recent report on NPR, mobile medical applications are hot property. Even the stodgy American Medical Association (AMA) has introduced an iPhone app that keeps track of your medications. It’s….
Continue ReadingPatient Privacy Is Compromised by Identity Theft
We’ve all heard tabloid tales of hospital personnel taking unauthorized peeks into celebrity patient files and selling the dishiest contents for personal gain. But there’s also reason for the rest of us to to guard our medical records like we do our bank accounts. According to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, nearly 4 in 10 doctors….
Continue ReadingAt What Price Does a Hospital Get to Compromise Patient Privacy?
Kimberly White had a hysterectomy with a variety of attendant issues she thought were private matters between her and her health-care providers. She says Tufts Medical Center is responsible for proving her wrong. As reported in The Boston Globe, she sued the hospital and a primary care doctor for allegedly faxing sensitive medical history documents….
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