When anyone is treated in a medical facility in the US, they are guaranteed privacy by law. The first thing they make you do is sign away that privacy so they can bill your insurance policy. The second thing they make you sign is that any Dr., Nurse, Aide or janitor can know anything about you because they are part of you “treatment team” HA!
If you just happen to be lucky enough to have medically educated family, they and you are just Shit out of luck. Unless the bureaucrat that is handling your family or friends case is a human being with feelings and understandings, you can just forget about trying to get vital medical information into their record.
As a health care worker, I know that any information I can get about a patient can help me customize care to include many different needs, If I know about them!
I have a cardiac condition, Coronary Artery Disease, or CAD. Yet there are some facilities that have refused to listen to my WIFE try to explain that to medical staff
Add in the stigma of anyone being accused of being a danger to themselves, or others and anyone can end up held against their will, incommunicado, in places much worse than Guantanamo Bay.
You will be told you have rights, be promised care, visitation, and freedom if you participate in “treatment”. From the inside I have seen this used again and again to create vicious cycles in which innocent people have been held hostage, playing by the rules, while those in charge change the rules on a constant basis.
When people take a good idea such as the HIPPA law, and twist it into something unrecognizable that prevents information from getting into the hands that need it most, then everyone’s healthcare will suffer. Indeed it already has, Our life expectancy is now going down instead of up. One of the major political points of my youth was that the Americans could continue to grow in prosperity, and live longer, work shorter hours, and be able to enjoy more time with our families.
