In Case You Were Wondering Whose Health The U.S. "Health Care" Industry Is Looking Out For...

November 11, 2023, 10:54 AM

quote:

AHA Sues Feds Over Privacy Warning About Web Tracker Use
Hospital Groups Say HHS Exceeded Its Authority by Issuing HIPAA-Related 'Rule'
Marianne Kolbasuk McGee (HealthInfoSec) • November 7, 2023

The American Hospital Association, along with three other organizations, has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to have the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services withdraw guidance issued last year warning that the use of online trackers by hospitals potentially violates HIPAA.

...

Now, the AHA's lawsuit not only wants to have HHS OCR's web tracker guidance repealed, but the group also seeks a court ruling saying that the "proscribed combination" of a patient's IP address or email address with certain other identifiers does not constitute "individually identifiable health information" that is HIPAA-protected.

...

Despite the scrutiny of regulators at HHS and FTC, the AHA's complaint "admits plaintiffs want to collect and disclose consumer email and IP addresses to third-party vendors," Hales said.

The complaint claims that the hospitals and members of the other plaintiff associations "wish" to use online technologies on unauthenticated public webpages to collect and disclose the "proscribed combination" of identifiers to third-party technology vendors but are refraining from doing so in various ways based on HHS's threat to enforce the guidance.

Full article: AHA Sues Feds Over Privacy Warning About Web Tracker Use

TL;DR: It ain't your health that most concerns them, it's theirs.

November 11, 2023, 11:02 AM

12131

quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
TL;DR: It ain't your health that most concerns them, it's theirs.

Well, I'll be! Somebody post that shock face, please.

November 11, 2023, 11:27 AM

nhtagmember

We may pay the freight but we’re just an annoyance to them - how dare we get sick and actually have to use the service we paid for.

November 11, 2023, 12:22 PM

chellim1

My parents are of an age where they have complete trust in their doctors. I used to but my wife has worked in health care for the last 30 years. I've seen many changes. Most doctors no longer own their own practice.

I no longer believe that the U.S. "Health Care" Industry Is Looking Out for patients. Doctors are not accountable to patients. Patients, for the most part, aren't (directly) paying them, so they are more accountable to hospitals (employers), insurance companies, and government regulators.

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible."
-- Justice Janice Rogers Brown

"The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth."
-rduckwor

November 11, 2023, 12:49 PM

ensigmatic

quote:
Originally posted by 12131:
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
TL;DR: It ain't your health that most concerns them, it's theirs.
Well, I'll be! Somebody post that shock face, please.

I know, right?

November 11, 2023, 01:47 PM

nhtagmember

I’m pretty sure my old physician was working for her attorney

November 11, 2023, 08:25 PM

AITG

Our local hospital was sucked up by a corporation that covered half the state. That corp was merged with one on the other side of the state so our local hospital is now a part of an organization that's hundreds of miles away. The corp appointed a President whose background is in IT. That tells you their priorities.

Half of the desks in the intake area are unoccupied and everyone who works there is seemingly in fear of being the next cut. Lab tests that used to be run in house are now done 100 miles away. The business is all about $$. The one saving grace is that the people are locals who still make the patient their priority...for now.