HIPPA Regulations

New Federal Privacy Regulations (HIPPA)

On April 14, 2003, new government regulations went into effect. In other doctors’ offices you may have been asked to sign “HIPAA” forms. Since we do not file electronic insurance claims, our practice does not fall under the HIPAA regulations and is not required to comply with all the detailed steps or forms, so you will not be asked to sign the same forms you have seen in other doctors’ offices. But the privacy policies I put in place many years ago actually go farther in protecting your confidentiality than the current law. It has been my policy for many years that private patient information is not released to anyone other than you, the patient, unless we are required to do so by a court order. This means we send copies of medical records only to you, the patient, not to your insurance company or other medical offices. It is then up to you to decide with whom you want to share the information, and what you want to share.  

The new HIPAA regulations are rather misleading with regard to the degree of privacy they give to your medical records, since the new laws allow a variety of situations in which your records may be automatically accessible by any government or law enforcement agency to view without your further consent and without your physicians being able to stop the release of information. I am very concerned about these intrusions into individual privacy. If you would like further information on these issues that affect your privacy, and that have been overlooked or downplayed in the press, you may contact the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons website.