The primary purpose of HIPPA was to prevent people from concealing pre existing conditions from insurance companies. What HIPPA does is this, it allows and in fact requires any medical professional you see to share information with your insurance carrier and any other insurance carrier to whom you apply for coverage. Doctor-patient confidentiality does not exist any more. However HIPPA expressly allows your MHP to deny you access to your records. Don't believe me, it's true, oh, and it's federal so state laws don't really matter. Anything your therapist puts in his or her notes will be read by as many bored insurance adjusters as well, feel like reading your records, but you have no right to see them.

Here's the link: http://www.patientprivacyrights.org/site/PageServer?pagename=HIPAA_Intent_Vs_Reality

The Virginia legislature is passing legislation to make mental health providers "rat out" teenagers who seek treatment on their own to their parents, adults whose own clinicians do not think they are a danger to self or others to special justices and sheriffs and magistrates and teenagers who want HIV tests to their parents. But Virginia was already worst in the nation on patient confidentiality, we're just getting even worse.

Ooooh! I know this answer! Pick me! Pick me!!



... the company is asking docs to breach doctor-patient confidentiality, which is supposed to be one of the toughest firewalls in all of human life.



Just in case any members of the FBI or CIA are languishing about, (one never knows)... I merely wished to "observe" that Phil ("Philip" to his "friends") has been known to hang out in homeless shelters where he has surely rubbed elbows with indiginents and non-conformists, some of whom have probably -- no, surely -- I mean, very probably, as in most likely, as in patently obvious come from an "unsavory" background. In spite of this, he keeps going back.



I never thought it would come to this, but obviously "Phil" is a "One-of-Them".



*sniff*



Although this has been very difficult for me, I think I did the right thing by turning him in.



See also:

- McCarthyism

- Irony

Do you know of a petition going around anywhere, or where one could send a letter?

NAP, The issue of patient privacy is a big one. Here's a link to a petition to stop pharmacys from revealing your prescription data:

http://www.patientprivacyrights.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Petition_for_Prescription_Privacy

There are some other links on the page to other actions one can take but I fear that people with psych labels, which includes anyone seeing an MHP, need to be careful because when we stand up for our rights it's an indication we are a danger to ourselves and others and you know what that means.