HIPAA, water-cooler talk, and the whole patient

“Studies show that multidisciplinary rounds improve every facet of patient care, from length of hospital stay to infectious complications and even mortality. But it still means that medical privacy is becoming a very relative concept. No longer can you offer up your gallbladder to the system, and keep the rest of yourself tucked safely away.

The walls between medical providers and the outside world are tall and thick now, bolstered by custom and the law. Nothing much gets out.

Inside the castle keep, though, the tongues are wagging, and it’s all for your own good. From marital problems to drug and alcohol dependence to that odd habit of paying for your medical care from a wad of crisp new $100 bills, there is no such thing as “none of their business” anymore.

Everything is becoming our business now.”