Will Patient Privacy Be Sold for Stimulus Money?
Friday, March 12, 2010 at 11:45AM by aaps The key to enforcing healthcare reform was already passed in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), also known as the Stimulus Bill. This contains $17 billion to encourage physicians and hospitals to adopt electronic health records.
Doctors might not take the bribe. An informal online survey by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) so far shows that 90 percent of more than 1,100 respondents answer “No” to the question “Should doctors take the ‘Stimulus’ money to computerize their offices?”
To get the subsidy of up to $65,000 over 5 years, doctors have to use a government-approved system. Such a system must be “interoperable”—which means able to share patients’ private information with more than 600,000 different entities.
No patient consent is needed.
Doctors are warned: “If you take the stimulus money to computerize your office, the government will own your patients’ medical records—and possibly your practice,” states Jane M. Orient, M.D., executive director of AAPS.
The system will have to be capable of generating lists of patients by specific conditions, to use for “quality improvement,” reduction of disparities, research, and outreach. It will have to contain decision rules as for ordering diagnostic tests, and a way to track compliance with the rules. Doctors’ pay will be tied to achieving the government’s desired outcomes.
The government’s purposes include cutting spending and meeting population health goals. The doctor’s calling, in contrast, has traditionally been to serve each individual patient.
Changing from a sickness to a wellness orientation means that healthy young workers (taxpayers and voters) have a priority higher than older, sicker folks. ;)
Under the Senate healthcare reform bill, a computer will determine, at the point of service, whether or not an individual is eligible to receive a specific service at a specific facility. The interoperable health record would contain information such as ethnicity, race, preferred language, smoking status, weight, body mass index, age, and compliance with past treatment, related to patient worthiness and societal goals.
“Interoperability” is what the $17 billion buys for the government. It’s essential for central government monitoring and control of doctors—and their patients.
Reader Comments (17)
Any time the government opens it's hand to "give" something that's a good time to make sure you investigate everything they're offering. In this case they're offering to give money, but the system to be used must be the "government system." Well, we all know how well their systems work. I wish more people would speak their mind on line, calling Washington, sending e-mails and everything they can possibly do to let them know we've had it with their lies, tricks and taking the AMERICAN PEOPLE FOR GRANTED>
Don't spin your wheels about opposing electronic patient records. Most hospitals in the USA already use them. Our local 42 inpatient bed county hospital statred using electroni patient records about a year ago-----at an expense of a little over $1,000,000.
They are great when a patient needs to transferred to a larger hospital, or when a patient changes doctors (not an uncommon event).
We do not need the government involved in patient care. or patient records. Our health needs should not be determined by the government, but is a personal correspondence between DR & Patient. The government can't handle the claims for our military veterans, how do you expect them to handle the rest of the countries healthcare needs.
Stop this insanity and let the people have their freedom back.
This is just another way of the government putting it's nose where it doesn't belong. This past year is a prime example of what this administration wants to do to this country. Nothing good is going to come out of this system other than trying to find away to get rid of all of us so they can rule the entire world. OBAMA KEEP YOUR STINKING MONEY AND WHY DON'T YOU LEAVE US AND THIS COUNTRY ALONE!! 2012 can't come fast enough. Let's just home our country can last that long under this Maxist leader.
I AM SUPRISED THAT WE HAVE REPRESENTIVES STUPID ENOUGH TO SUGGEST SOMETHING AS DUMB AS THIS. YOU CAN BET YOUR LIFE THEY ARE NOT DOING IT FOR OUR WELL BEING. THERE IS MUCH MORE TO IT THAN ELECTRONIC PATIENT RECORDS. I HOPE EVERYONE WILL CONTACT THEIR REPS. BEFORE IT'S TO LATE. I ALREADY HAVE.
Drs should keep patient records confidential, any attempt to access them is dubious and should not be entertained.
DR.'S SHOULDN'T TAKE ANY BRIBES-ESPECIALLY STIMULUS MONEY. THERE WILL BE A CATCH 22 TO ALL OF THIS AND I THINK THEY WOULDN'T WANT TO GET INVOLVED WITH LOUSY OBAMMIE,PELOSI OR REID AND ALL THE OTHER CROOKS. THIS WILL MAKE MEDICAL BILLS THAT MUCH HIGHER. IF IT WADDLES LIKE A DUCK, QUACKS LIKE A DUCK THEN IT IS A DUCK AND GET AWAY FROM THE EVIL DUCK. JUST TELL OBAMMIE TO TAKE A LONG WALK ON A "SHORT" PLANK AND TAKE PELOSI, REID AND ALL THE OTHER CROOKS WITH HIM. IF YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR YOU- YOU WILL STAY AWAY FROM THIS DIRTY DIRT!!!!!!!
What ever happened to the HIPAA policy that was enacted? Is the government so big they will override this? There all corrupt!! and I don't trust any of them.
Electronic Medical Records are another distraction from medical care while pretending to document patient care by clicking on "canned' information structured to meet Federal guidelines for payment, regulation compliance, etc.
As usual, while proclaiming patient privacy and medical benefits, EMRs are a device to allow thousands of agencies and businesses to to know the patient's most intimate health and social life experiences. Then, the computor program makes decisions that only the physician and patient should make.
Private practice for cash makes the patient the boss!
I WILL NEVER CONSENT TO ANY GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN MY MEDICAL FILES. HEY MR. OBAMA, MADAM PELOSI, & DIRTY HARRY: YOU KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF MY HEALTH CARE! I'M SICK AND TIRED OF CONTACTING POLITICIANS TO VOICE MY OPPOSITION TO YOUR STUPID HEALTH CARE BILL. NOW I HAVE ONE MORE THING TO WORRY ABOUT. MR. PRESIDENT, YOU'RE A DISGRACE TO MY COUNTRY. STOP SPENDING MY MONEY. IT'S NOT YOURS TO SPEND. IT BELONGS TO ME AND I WANT IT BACK. ALL OF IT. HEY TIM GEITNER, HAVE YOU PAID YOUR TAXES YET?? I'M SO ANGRY AT THIS POINT I COULD CRY. STAY TOGETHER PEOPLE. WE CAN'T LET THEM WRECK OUR COUNTRY. IF THEY WANT A WAR, WELL THEN, THEY'LL GET A WAR. NOW WHERE DID I PUT THAT PITCH FORK?
What a windfall for Microsoft!
The profits from CPT and ICD and DSM
are minuscule compared to this direct
and brazen subsidy to one of the largest
companies in the world.
I want nothing to do with the proposed Obamacare and sharing my medical records with the world. Ask youself who screws up more than the US Govt??????
They are not only screwing this up, they are apparently breaking long-standing laws to accomplish their goals.
I WORK IN A SMALL COMMUNITY HOSP. AND WE JUST WENT LIVE WITH ELECTRONIC CHARTING. WE WERE TOLD BY DOING THIS THE GOV'T WILL PAY THE HOSP MORE MONEY. WHEN I HEARD THIS I KNEW IT WAS NOT GOOD. WE SPEND MORE TIME CHARTING IN THE COMPUTER THAN WE ARE GIVING PATIENT CARE. WHEN WE TRIED TO STREAMLINE THE CHARTING FOR OUR DEPARTMENT WE WERE TOLD THAT IS HAS TO BE UNIVERSAL! GO FIGURE! IF YOU KNOW WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT THE END TIMES THAT WE ARE NOW LIVING IN THIS IS JUST HELPING TO PUT IN PLACE EVERYTHING FOR THE ANTICHRIST. THE ANTICHRIST SPIRIT IS PRESENT IN CONGRESS!
The current government will do away with our constitution by taking away as much of our our freedom as we let them. The progressive party is the road to socialism. That same road leads to communism. It is time to close that road. They have tried to do this before & were stopped. We are in a battle with fanatics who will never give up! I believe in our constitution & I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!
One of the reasons healthcare costs have spiraled out of control is because of malpractice suits and awards. Many doctors overprescribe tests to protect themselves from frivolous lawsuits. I have looked at the credentials of both my elected state and federal representatives, and over 90% of them are lawyers or attorneys. What kind of luck do you think we would have if we asked them to look at the impact lawyers have had on healthcare? What if we asked them to revise laws and policies to give back to doctors the ability to use their own judgment when treating each patient, and to give patients the right to make some of the decisions about their own healthcare?
Equally at fault are people who refuse to take responsibility for their own behavior and want a law to protect them from everything (even their own stupidity).
Enough! -- Let's put the emphasis on reasonable solutions and personal responsibility instead of sweeping government proposals purported to fix everything. If doctors choose to computerize for information-sharing between doctors, fine. But keep the government and government money out of it. Patient confidentiality and the doctor-patient relationship should remain at the forefront of any of these decisions.
From the Hippocratic Oath: "I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone." ... And another part of the oath: " All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession ... which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal." .....Doctors take these or a similar oath -- not the government!
We are sliding down the slippery slope with little chance of avoiding the pit. Big brother has no regard for humanity or competency. When Greed is running the show what do You expect get?
Our constitutional rights have been attacked from the moment they were written. The intrusion of bureaucracy and "regulations" into every aspect of our lives is emboldened by tacit deference to these intrusions.
Wake up! HIPPA is a trojan horse that gives the machine access to medical records without subpoena while preventing the patients from getting their own records. The government use of EMR is not to improve healthcare but rather will be to punish those who care for the disabled, sick or elderly and reward those who hasten their demise most efficiently. Those who refuse to go along with the game will be attacked . Death is inexpensive.
The architects of this corruption have created improper rules which are impossible to fulfill. This is not accidental, rather it is a diabolical racket to implement a predatory plan of the kleptocracy . Medicare is a front for these criminal corporations who are running the show.
Science and Humanity are diametrically opposite of politics and law. You can make a law against gravity but the world will keep spinning, failure to support competency and honest work will have grave consequences.
Please Work to re-establish the physician-patient relationship where the patient is the customer , not third parties. Resist computerized spy and control programs. Support open software structured to improve healthcare process inexpensively. Reject the CPT racket and follow SNOMED as a common language . Work to abolish all insurance as the fraud that it is and keep your money under your control. Demand responsible emergency services through a clear , accountable municipal model where the fire-department runs the hospitals for the proper use of our tax money.
Remember that government will plunder everything if not restrained especially when the ship of state is a pirate ship.
I am not a physicianl, however, I am am American citizen - was born in America and I have only one thing to say about Pelosi and Obama and that is, "If their mouths are moving - they are lying.
I do not want anyone else and especially the government to be able to access my medical records at any time.