The
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is being charged with the illegal search and seizure
of 60 million medical records from about 10 million Americans. It is
suspected that these records contain personal medical information on people
from all walks of life.
The claim charges 15
IRS officials with unlawful seizure of the medical records during an
investigation at a California company. The
IRS was investigating a former employee for a financial issue The
company is requesting $25,000 in damages be paid for each unauthorized record,
but this case would also serve as a precedent case and provide future guidance
for similar situations.
The unauthorized
seizure of medical records is a major concern for several reasons:
1) Our medical records
contain confidential and sensitive information about us. The records
contain psychological history, sexual history, drug and alcohol
history, etc. Anything you tell your doctor ends up in your chart and I
think it is safe to say that most, if not all of us, have at some point told
our doctor something we would not like to end up on the network news, or in the
hands of a government agent.
2) The IRS has been
given a vital role in the management of President Obama’s heath care reform.
In this position they will likely be frequently placed in situations like
the one mentioned above. Because of their position, we will need to trust
the IRS officials to maintain the confidentiality of our health
information. This means they will need
to only view the records absolutely necessary, and extract only the information
they directly need for their investigation.
Many security measures
are built into EMR (Electronic Medical Records) systems to keep your medical information
safe. To access medical records at the hospital I have two different
password screens and every record I view is recorded. Also, my name is listed right on the screen
in the patient’s electronic file. This means that I can see the names of
the last several people who have viewed the chart for each patient and they
will be able to see mine. This provides extra incentive to only view the
records that you have a workplace need to view and allows other employees to
see if you have been poking around records you have no reason to be viewing.
3) When taken from the
hospital system information in the medical record is no longer as tightly
protected. When moved to another computer there is always the risk that
the information will be misused and the confidentiality compromised.
So, ask yourself: Would you trust each individual employee of the IRS with every aspect of your life and the most intimate details
of your personal health history?
No? Then, we need to be
extra vigilant as healthcare reform rolls out over the next few
years. I do recognize that I have a
hearty dose of skepticism of the government, but like the old adage
says, "plan for the worst and hope for the best." I think we
need to do a bit more of the planning when it comes to the new IRS
responsibilities under the Health Care Reform Act.
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