Medical Privacy
A woman who felt that she had nothing to hide,
but that her medical records were nobody's
business, refused, in 1997, to release her health
history to her employer. This started a chain of
financial, legal, job, and health repercussions that
still dog both her and her employer.
"There seems to be a constant erosion of precepts
of confidentiality that used to be a part of medicine
but aren't any more." Technology has made it
easier for files collected by health providers to be
misused and often shared with outsiders without
the knowledge of the patient.
The first Federal standards to regulate access to
and use of patient records will be phased in
starting in 2002. There are many provisions that
employers must learn about and enforce.
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