Patient Privacy

Public Health Rails Against Patient Privacy

The public emphatically supports the right of patient privacy. A 1993 Harris poll found that 97% of respondents believed in the importance of protecting the confidentiality of individual medical records, with 36% classifying such protection as "absolutely essential." Patients know that inappropriate or malicious use of medical information can be devastating: marriages shattered, jobs lost, insurance denied, political campaigns crushed.

U.S. Department of Defense Introduced Smart Card

Smart Cards For Health Care

Medical Savings Accounts

Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) are either tax-free or post-tax accounts which receive deposits of funds from employers or individuals that are used to pay for medical expenses. The MSA is attached to a high deductible insurance policy that is chosen by the individual. MSAs are little known because of political opposition, the desire of Congress to force the pooling of all health care dollars into HMOs, and a 1996 law enacting limited and restrictive MSA regulations which discourage marketing by insurers.

OASIS - The Outcome and Assessment Information System

OASIS - the intrusive home health data collection system

Medicare's OASIS home health data collection system

There is no obligation on the part of private patients to contribute to the Medicare OASIS database. Yet, OASIS regulations seek to collect data on all patients in the home health system. There is no statutory basis for coercion of non-subsidized patients into the federal data collection process. In fact, the Fourth Amendment prohibits such collection without patient consent.

Medical Privacy Panel Discussion
National Press Club

Birth Defects Registries

Two Home Health Nurses Sound Alarm