Since 2006, the u.s. federal government has mandated, incentivized and pushed for health information network infrastructure, including EMRs in practitioners' offices and state HIE / HINs. Now, the infrastructure seems to be 'fully operational' but I believe we forgot one important thing: nobody told the public.
All your health information is now available to any medical practioner with the stroke of their keyboard: medical history, labs, prescriptions, everything... Yes, your information is shared and available whether you want it disclosed or not. Doctor to doctor... Anyone who sees you for a medical concern can see your activity. Even my optometrist was able to print out medical history and Rx history without my consent. ...and "no" it is not a HIPAA violation for them to do so.
The Feds (ONC) advised that "no patient shall ever be surprised that their information is being shared". Most states and territories, when legislation was created to allow the creation of Health Information Technology infrastructure, included the duty to "educate the public" about HIEs.
I recently conducted a poll of 100 people to see if they were aware of the existence of the HIN. Not one person was aware. Zero.
All these years and it seems as if we are hiding behind our NPP's statement of being able to share patient information for "health care operations".
When Google's Project Nightingale surfaced two years ago, there was public outrage about privacy intrusion, but that was quickly quieted down and swept under the rug. Why? Politicians' demands for a formal inquiry seemed to go away as quick as their demands for answers arose...
Surescripts, OnePartner, Commonwell, Carequality, PatientPing... They're all part of the system but the average person has never heard of them.
So... To disclose, or not to disclose and why?
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