HIPAA Confusion

The New York Times reports on the land of HIPAA confusion. HIPAA is the federal medical information privacy law that is causing all kinds of problems in health care. The article details it well. Family members can’t find their loved one’s condition because people are either afraid of HIPAA or are using it as an excuse not to do anything.

The law, at least from a privacy standpoint, was 100% unnecessary. It’s already illegal for a health care professional to disclose confidential health information. If I did that, I could lose my license to practice pharmacy. The problem with laws like these is that no one knows how the government bureaucrats will enforce it until someone gets big time busted. Sooner or later, someone in some government agency will make an example out of someone. I suspect that is what is driving the overzealous behavior.