[asterisk-biz] NuFone comes through

[Matthew Rubenstein]

	When a hospital sent my ill mother to another hospital, but left her
x-rays out of the transfer, they couldn't get it together to send them
with a courier. So I drove there myself, when they asked me to do it for
them. Then they told me HIPPA wouldn't allow them to give them to me,
even though I was her son, primary caregiver, and on-record healthcare
proxy (with power of attorney, etc). Then I told them they were
assholes, and they gave me the x-rays, after charging me a $20
"duplication" fee in cash, which they obviously pocketed. At no time did
they ask me for ID, or have any way to know I was the
person/relationship I claimed (2 sets of people, on the phone and in
person). After my 20+ years personal experience as both a healthcare
worker and a civilian (and contractor points between), I could run down
a long list of consistent experiences.

	HIPPA is a law. The reality is that healthcare bureaucracy is a joke,
made even less funny by rules like HIPPA no one even fully knows, let
alone follows. I would like to know whether HIPPA allows VoIP, whether
VPN or otherwise. But only because I'm more professional than the
healthcare institutions, and because it's a good pitch to healthcare
customers.


On Fri, 2006-12-08 at 20:57 -0500, Paul wrote:
> Lacy Moore - Aspendora wrote:
> 
> >
> >
> > On 12/4/06, *Steve Totaro* <stotaro at totarotechnologies.com
> > <mailto:stotaro at totarotechnologies.com>> wrote:
> >
> >     I wonder if VoIP over the public internet meets the HIPAA standards?
> >
> >  
> > I thought about that myself.  I hope these aren't any type of
> > emergency numbers using the internet.  I imagine some lawyers are
> > foaming at the mouth ready to jump on this one...
> 
> Funny thing is that when a medical provider, bank or credit card company
> calls me they never ask if I am using a secure line. I doubt that the
> majority of voip and cell subscribers understand the implications. Maybe
> the disclosure requirements should include that aspect. If I plug my
> laptop into the average hotel or college dormitory LAN, it's probably
> fairly easy to eavesdrop on any voip calls.
> 
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(C) Matthew Rubenstein