LTCI Watch: Harry Potter and HIPAA

Meanwhile, in the real world, most computer users have a hard time remembering more than one or two of the “strong” passwords they’re supposed to use. They cope with the password burden with strategies that make the strong passwords nearly powerless.

Some of the safeguards companies use to keep users from accidentally letting viruses in also keep users from installing software updates in a timely fashion. So users face the possibility that they’ll get hacked because of the safeguards that are supposed to keep them from getting hacked.

Doctors, hospital administrators and long-term care (LTC) facility administrators use HIPAA privacy as a shield against extra work or unwanted scrutiny when that seems appropriate. But then, sometimes, when the doctors and care managers know they need to share information, they just lower their voices and share whatever information they want to share with any people who seem to be in a position to help the patient. Because, really, what else can the doctors do? A patient has a right to privacy. But a frail elderly patient may also need help from a friendly neighbor who has no official relationship with the patient and no release forms. The HIPAA rules are creating what amounts to a health information exchange underground in every doctor’s office, every hospital and every LTC facility.

The bottom line is that Congress and regulators have created a system that sounds nice but requires the impossible. The more agencies try to keep the rules as-is, without finding ways to delay or adjust the rules, the bigger the gap between what the rules require and what the parties subject to the rules actually do will grow.

Policymakers need to set more modest goals and focus on helping organizations that are run by ordinary mortals protect their computers, not go around threatening organizations with audits and fines over failures to comply with rules that only a HIPAA sorcerer can understand.

See also: Lawyer on HIPAA Phase 2 audits: Take the rules seriously

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