Chatty Cathy and HIPAA

It turns out that the HIPAA law, which provides for privacy of patient medical records was enacted in 1996, over 20 years ago. So I was really surprised when Mark was admitted to the hospital and placed into a semi-private room. Unless the person in the room with you is unconscious, it's hard to have an expectation of privacy when all that separates you from your roommate is a curtain.

I should have known we were headed for trouble when Mark and I were discussing the valet parking and his roommate interrupted our conversation from his side of the curtain to give me the scoop on the hospital's valet parking. (By the way, that information subsequently proved to be erroneous, but nonetheless, I thought he was trying to be helpful.) 

It should be noted that the nurses went out of their way to go into the hallway to update each other for a shift change - to protect patient privacy. But let's face it, when they came in with a new medication for Mark, they didn't drag him into the hallway to tell him about it. They told him about it right there in the room, within ear shot of his roommate, whom we will call Chatty Cathy.

The minute the nurse or the doctor left, Chatty Cathy would offer up his opinion of the situation. Apparently he is in a good position to know, because he has been hospitalized with a similar condition on multiple occasions and so has a wealth of medical experience and expertise.

When a doctor discussed different treatment options with us, Chatty Cathy offered a second opinion. In fact, I think he weighed in on every conversation we had, medical or otherwise, unless he had visitors. If he had visitors he waited until they were gone to offer us his opinions. (Was he taking notes??)

It didn't really matter that he kept his TV on at full volume until 2 am. Nor did it matter that he took six calls on his cell phone (full ring tone, not vibrate) between 2 am and 6 am. That wasn't going to get Mark moved to a private room. What was going to work? The magic words "We are concerned that our HIPAA rights are being violated because...."

Boom. Moved. Just like that. And at this point, we are grateful for HIPAA because it does preserve your privacy, as well as your dignity - something they don't really practice in most other parts of the world.