privacy protection | Finding Gems and Sharing Them

A Letter for My Doctors — a sample and a suggestion

January 20, 2014 — SCrosnoe

As my letter says:

“I am increasingly concerned about privacy in the medical field. Please place this letter at the top of my file. I wish to rescind anything in my medical records that I have signed in the past that would make you think it is permissable to share my medical records with other persons or entities without my express written permission. This letter supercedes anything else on file in that regard. “

The full letter is available on scribd for you to see and share as you wish below. I am taking two copies of this letter to my doctor each time I visit them. I am asking the person working the desk to place a copy in my file on top of all other records. The other copy I am asking my doctor to sign for me that he has seen it and that one I keep. What is happening here may or may not protect my records from being shared, but it is me going on record and putting in print that I want my privacy protected. It is what I can do about matters and it lets them know in no uncertain terms, that I do not want my information shared. Some will tell you that HIPPA provides you privacy protection. But others will tell you to define privacy. We have very little these days, but it is still a matter of importance that we remind people not only of its importance but that we want to keep matters between ourselves and our doctor(s).

I am doing what I can and having the conversation with my doctors and their staff. May I suggest you have one with your doctors too! Have some fun along the way. You may find a friend who is like minded and fighting for your privacy too!

View this document on Scribd

Photo credit: Hippocrates, engraving by Peter Paul Rubens, 1638. Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine [1] (via Wikipedia)

Special thanks to Kaye Beach for encouraging me to publish this letter and share it with others.