[ OUR OPINION ]
OPENLY displayed patient charts, sign-in sheets and even bulletin-board photos may be relics of the past in hospitals and doctors' offices. Beginning this week, medical providers are required to abide by new privacy rules that are expected to radically change the way doctors, dentists, hospitals, clinics and pharmacies operate. Time will tell whether changes are needed. Doctors, hospitals face
privacy challenge
THE ISSUE Federal rules took effect on Monday providing patients the right to keep their medical records private.
"From now on, it's going to be a new world," says Laura Sherrill, manager of medical records at the Queen's Medical Center and head of a committee of health-related organizations that have participated in setting guidelines to comply with the federal rules. State privacy rules were set aside four years ago after then-Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono predicted "widespread confusion and anxiety" that would paralyze the medical community and create piles of paperwork.
The federal rules give patients the right to inspect, copy and request correction of errors in their medical records, learn who else has seen the records and request certain restrictions on disclosure of medical information. Hospitals may not release information to the public -- including friends, florists, family members or the news media -- without the patient's permission.
Some say the rules don't go far enough. A group of health-care professionals and patient advocates filed suit in Philadelphia on Monday to overturn the rules, contending that they violate patient privacy rights by allowing insurance companies and other groups access to medical records without receiving permission. Insurers can see records needed to process a bill; denying them that right would be ludicrous.
TV announcers may be stymied in trying to find out the seriousness of an injury in a sports event. Many athletic directors and coaches aren't sure whether they're allowed to release that information. An athlete conceivably may sign a waiver before the game to allow such disclosure, but that may be disregarded once he or she comes under the care of a doctor.
But what if the injured athlete is unconscious? Medical providers are divided about how to handle that. For example, some hospitals will assume that an unconscious patient wants everything to be private. Others plan to make every effort to contact an unconscious patient's relatives. That should be common sense.
Even if disclosure is authorized by the patient, the rules will allow only one-word descriptions of their conditions -- undetermined, good, fair, serious or critical. A patient's death may be disclosed only if neither the patient nor the family asked that it be kept confidential.
Patients, including public figures, can expect to be handed a long form upon entering a hospital, offering options ranging from allowing access to their records by numerous organizations to keeping their very admittance a dark secret.
