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HIPPA laws
Hey Guys, i have a question, and i am actually annoyed and want to find out the answer. I went to my shrink this week as always whom i adore and it was a great session, i visited my surgeon last week for a check up and actually forgot that i had told him of my opiate struggles, i never told him all the details but I obvisously wanted him to know i detoxed from them. ANyhoo, when i told my therapist she said "OH, he probably saw it in my chart"!! WHAT?? I don't want it out there for the world to know!!! So my question is, i did tell my primary care the truth and nothing but the truth, i cancelled the pain clinic and that is where i received all my RX's, but didn't tell my surgeon in a different state the details other than i had a difficult time. My therapist made it clear that once i have it in my chart its in the data base? Is this true? So now i am not sure if i told my surgeon or if he knew this from the system. I feel like my privacy was invaded, or could be. DOes anyone know our rights?
Best Answer
That's what I'm saying, set an example that creates a new label. It's not about anytime, except right now. If someone confronts the issue, and you are confident and obviously better, who can judge that. Even if you are judged, who doesn't fall short of perfection? That's how I think anyway. Maybe you don't know their secret, but anyone who judges, simply hasn't been caught yet. If you have armor, those who cast the first stone are throwing in vein. You have had an intense battle, which I relate to, but you never lost the war. Focus on being the best you there is, the rest will fall into place.
actingbrandnew, thanks so much for all the research! I too discovered "It seems that doctors providing you care can share information with eachother without your permission."
weaver, my therapist didn't talk i know that there was no reason for that, my primary care doc could have told my surgeon but i cant imagine that either. So either i told my surgeon or its in the system. When i went and told my therapist that i cant believe i forgot i told my surgeon she said or he noticed it in the data base and thats when i became startled. I feel its my right for this NOT to be in the system and still really don't know if i am. Hpefully one day i can be at peace with my addiction like you are, but for me, folks judge and not look at how far i have come, just see a addict:-(
Thank you all for the information. I did read up on the HIPPA laws and it does seem that all my docs can talk about me without my consent, with the exception of my therapist. Trust is huge for me as i am sure for most of us and i am glad i informed my doc of my addiction but i didn't want to be put in some data base labeled as an addict, that is what upsets me.
weaver, my therapist didn't talk i know that there was no reason for that, my primary care doc could have told my surgeon but i cant imagine that either. So either i told my surgeon or its in the system. When i went and told my therapist that i cant believe i forgot i told my surgeon she said or he noticed it in the data base and thats when i became startled. I feel its my right for this NOT to be in the system and still really don't know if i am. Hpefully one day i can be at peace with my addiction like you are, but for me, folks judge and not look at how far i have come, just see a addict:-(
Thank you all for the information. I did read up on the HIPPA laws and it does seem that all my docs can talk about me without my consent, with the exception of my therapist. Trust is huge for me as i am sure for most of us and i am glad i informed my doc of my addiction but i didn't want to be put in some data base labeled as an addict, that is what upsets me.
Therapy is protected and a therapist can lose their license for sharing, even to the courts. I had to sign a waiver letting my therapist write a note to a judge and my doctor. I know I barely remember signing it, I was desperate at the time. I found that I don't care anymore. Now that opiates are 2 years behind me, I just say, yes, I went through rough time in the past, but that is not who I am anymore. I really had to internalize that my active addiction was behind me before I was no embarrassed anymore, or afraid it would come back and bite me. Actually, I find most people are proud of me and excited I have moved on, the opposite of what my fear told me.
Thanks guys for the insight! Who the heck remembers what i signed after rehab and came clean. Its not that i do not want my surgeon to know, i did tell him just not the details, my primary care knows and of course my therapist and thats all i want to know. Its a trust issue i am having i assume, just not happy that i could be in the data base with my personal information. You never know one day this could bite in my the butt....
Usually, a part of any "new patient visit paperwork", whether it is a Psychiatrist, Primary Care, Surgeon or Specialist....they include a "release of information form". I have been to 5 new doctors in the last 2 months and have had that new patient pkg to fill out at every single one of them.
They weren't "doctor specific".....just my general consent to share my medical information with others that take part in caring for me medically.
I can understand why this caught you by surprise/ "off guard" but your surgeon knowing you are a recovering addict would be important I'd think.
I don't think our information is shared "with the world".....just those that participate in our medical care.
They weren't "doctor specific".....just my general consent to share my medical information with others that take part in caring for me medically.
I can understand why this caught you by surprise/ "off guard" but your surgeon knowing you are a recovering addict would be important I'd think.
I don't think our information is shared "with the world".....just those that participate in our medical care.
Yeah...just like the others said. You have to sign a release form that specifically names the doctor the information is to be shared with.
I was at the Dr's office the other day and was asked to sign a new form sharing my records from one hospital group to another. So, I'm pretty sure you would have had to sign something and probably just don't remember it. They put the forms in front of you and sometimes we just don't know what we are really signing.
Sorry for your situation.:(
Sorry for your situation.:(
If u sign consent forms for one doctor to get your records from another then yes it is legal.
Do u remember doing that.
Do u remember doing that.
its legal only if you signed a consent form for your therapist to speak with other doctors i.e. your surgeon your PC doc etc if you didn't which you might of done during intake but i would ask her to show you a form you signed giving permission to speak with others ima nurse and it is illegal for one doc to speak to another without your signing a consent form for them to do so
this reminds me of a Seinfeld episode when Elaine went 2 the dr for a rash and the dr says this and that and writes something on her chart and sends her on her way, and she keeps goin 2 others drs for help but they wont treat her because of what the first dr put in her portfolio.....yes its somewhat different but really its not .....ahhhh how nice it is 2 remember things from the past that I thought were gone foreva, even if its Seinfeld!!!
Honey-
I have no idea but something similar happened to me. Before I was properly diagnosed with my stage 4 endometriosis and crohn's disease, my family doc thought I was a hypochondriac or suffering from mental illness so he sent me to a psychiatrist. This 'quack' said he thought I suffered from borderline personality disorder which I assure you I DO NOT, and was later ruled out by another psychiatrist. When I was finally diagnosed and sent to a pain management program this 'diagnosis' came back to bite me and the first pain psychologist I saw started asking me all these questions about my 'imagined pain'. I was like WTF? So I asked to see my chart and saw that the first psychiatrists report was in there. The pain psychologist told me to have it removed from my chart, that this was my right, and so I did.
Don't know if this relates or helps at all. But here in Canada, we have a right to see our charts and decide what is included and what is not.
Personally, I tell ALL doctors and specialists that I was addicted to pain meds. I am upfront and honest going into everything. My issue was with an inaccurate diagnosis. I am an addict. I don't have a personality disorder.
Xo
Lu
I have no idea but something similar happened to me. Before I was properly diagnosed with my stage 4 endometriosis and crohn's disease, my family doc thought I was a hypochondriac or suffering from mental illness so he sent me to a psychiatrist. This 'quack' said he thought I suffered from borderline personality disorder which I assure you I DO NOT, and was later ruled out by another psychiatrist. When I was finally diagnosed and sent to a pain management program this 'diagnosis' came back to bite me and the first pain psychologist I saw started asking me all these questions about my 'imagined pain'. I was like WTF? So I asked to see my chart and saw that the first psychiatrists report was in there. The pain psychologist told me to have it removed from my chart, that this was my right, and so I did.
Don't know if this relates or helps at all. But here in Canada, we have a right to see our charts and decide what is included and what is not.
Personally, I tell ALL doctors and specialists that I was addicted to pain meds. I am upfront and honest going into everything. My issue was with an inaccurate diagnosis. I am an addict. I don't have a personality disorder.
Xo
Lu
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It seems that doctors providing you care can share information with eachother without your permission. What seems exempt from that are certain psychology notes. Those have protection. But meds, tests, etc can all be shared with other doctors in order to provide consistent care. I guess HIPPA is more for protecting us from employers and things like that. I also read that although HIPPA is a federal law, many states have there own privacy laws that my differ.
Anyways, this is my understanding after reading about it.
When I was treating for Hep C and went to see a psych, my Hep C doc made me sign a form stating the Psych's name he had permission to talk to. This would make since now since I read psychology notes are very protected.
I would be upset and surprised too if my doc read my notes from therapy sessions. Just doesn't seem right.