Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Opinion Survey....1/3



I'm running a totally unofficial survey above the cluster map. This week it has the question: Wool-gathering, just wait.....

Do you feel that the coverage by the Paris News is: 25%-Sparce, 6%-Over-played, 8%-Balanced, or 65%-Slanted?

How many times a week do you hear the-paris-site mentioned (email counts)? 21-Never, 36%-(1-5x), 21%-(6-10x), 9%-(11-20x), 11%-(21x or more)

Should Suddenlink break the anonymity of the blog, would you continue with their service? 12%-Yes, 61%-No, 25%-Don't, and wouldn't use....

Do you feel that the judge ruled correctly? 12%-Yes, 84%-No, 3%-Undecided

Is Essent leaning down the tax base and getting rid of the excess property, or are they selling off the extraneous to make it more desirable to a buyer? 3%-Lean strategy, 57%-Sale prep, 25%-both, 14%-credit neither

Should employees be paid for the time in transit between campuses? 4%-No, 96%-Yes

Do you feel that employee suggestions are given the scrutiny they deserve?
5%-Yes, 87%-No 7%-No idea

Should the expectation of privacy(anonymous blogging) be compromised by a Civil Suit? 9%-Yes, 91%-No

Will Essent finish their Cardiac Center of Excellence by years end? 10%-Yes, 2%-Undecided, 87%-No Note: Even Administration is now in the 'No' column....

Previous week on attitude: Have you seen changes in the attitudes of the staff?
20%-No, 11%-Better, 68%-Worse

Do you feel that Holly and her family were unfairly targeted by PRMC?
93%-Yes, 6%-No, 1%-Undecided

Do you think this site violates HIPAA?
95%-No Remainder split between Yes and Undecided.

I'll try to get more creative in the future, but it's a start. It does a six-day calculation. I also take suggestions, with the usual profanity exclusions. Mostly at the level of what you can hear on network TV.

Along with this week's survey (again, all comments posted anonymously are anonymous), any specific examples are welcome.


One more thing, seriously: If you really do think that there is a HIPAA violation, email or comment to me where it is. I'll run it by either the HIPAA blog, or there are a few sites that have picked up on this that seem to have resident experts that I will try. I've said from the beginning that I had no intention of being in violation of the Act.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have followed your blog enthusiastically for over a year and I have not seen any HIPAA violations. It saddens me to see what E$$ent has done to the health care in Paris. The patients have suffered a great deal in that they have had to leave town in many cases, hospital employees have also suffered knowing they have to provide care without the proper support from administration, but the physicians have also suffered, especially the surgeons who stand by and watch patients leaving to receive care elsewhere by surgeons who are no better qualified and in many cases less qualified than those in Paris. Paris folks need to stand up and get this money-hungry bunch of carpetbaggers out of town.

fac_p said...

Sadly, I agree that those that rely on in-patient services have been hit hard. It's a shame when they have to turn away business because post-procedural care is so iffy.

Healthcare is a marketplace, and Essent has put our hospital on the scratch-and-dent rack.

Anonymous said...

I am no expert on HIPPA, but based on what I have read and what I have understood from my limited past experience, I see nothing in the blog by anyone that seems to be a violation. I haven't seen any patient information or patient names that have been published on the blog or anything that would allow the reader to guess anything about a patient treated at PRMC. I think the judge has allowed the hospital to attempt fishing. I think it would be a free speech violation for the internet provider to provide information. My cousin is a lawyer and I feel certain he would take my case if they screwed with me. He likes to make money.

Anonymous said...

I am currently employed for a company who deals directly with releasing medical records to patients, their famaily members, lawyers, etc. I am all too familiar with HIPPA rules and regs.......it's my company's bible. I have followed your blog for a while now and the only violation I see is that of people who give their hard earned money in exchange for a "that will do" service. And that statement is not in regard to the employees, afterall what else can you do when you are expected to give 100% service while doing your job and attempting to cover the staffing shortages in your area.

Anonymous said...

Having been a nurse for a LONG time, and HIPPA being one of the hottest topics of a LOT of healthcare organizations, I have NEVER seen anything on this blog that would even come close to a HIPPA violation. The housekeeping staff knows more about someone's personal information than anyone could find out by readin this blog. I believe that the lawsuit is simply a way to try to shut all of us up and take away our ability to express our concerns about the company that is running our healthcare facility. The short staffing and regular.. be glad you have a job and shut up and do it attitude is very prevelant at this facility.

Anonymous said...

I, too, am familiar with the HIPAA regulations and I have seen NOTHING on this site that would violate that. Having been a former employee of PRMC I remember sitting in on meetings where the guys with the big bucks and matching offices would talk about how to find out who ran this site. I believe this is just a tactic they are using to try to get names and then discredit the them. They commented again and again how they believe its the former radiologists behind it and they wanted to find a way to prove it. I believe claiming you are in violation of HIPAA is just a way to try to do that. They are desperate.

Anonymous said...

An unofficial survey for people to judge whether a HIPAA violation exists? While everyone is entitled to their opinion, this question is not a simple matter. My first instincts are to err on the side of caution and assume that it is, in fact, a violation. HIPAA blogs and other such sources are highly unreliable. It is sort of like getting your information from Wikapedia; interesting, but not definitive.

With that as a predicate, suppose I were a partner with one of the largest healthcare law firms in the country with a major office in Nashville. Suppose further that I don't know Essent senior management other than very supericially, and then only from professional organizations. Also, assume that I do not know their capital partners from Adam.

That said, I would recommend to them that they pursue this lawsuit with every resource they have availble to them. I would further advise you to consider that you personally may be be libel, beyond the internet provider. If so, and if your identity is revealed during the course of this probe I would advise Essent to pursue damages against you personally. The outcome of which would in all liklihood bankrupt you and diminish your future employment opportunities anywhere. So I would be very careful to gloat in winning a battle, when you in fact may lose the war.

However, one might look at a jury pool and realize that by publicizing the site, both in their own communications, as well as news interviews, PRMC has managed to bring in all those extraneous factors, including opinions.

And, as for the HIPAA, that was really only a tool to push the judge to order a third party disclosure.

When even the deputy director of the department charged with HIPAA has indicated that hospitals are far too heavy handed with their enforcement, how can a jury of peers conclude otherwise?

The majority of the comments that were made were made anonymously, and the lawsuit divides the responsibility as such (JDs 1-10). So, if a determination is made that my comments were not meeting the standards for libel, the SLAPP suit might end up in PRMC's pocket....frank

fac_p said...

So, the HIPAA poll ended up as
77-no violation
2--violation
2--undecided

Will you be my jury....frank

Anonymous said...

That said, I would recommend to them that they pursue this lawsuit with every resource they have availble to them


And one might also realize all information, ill gained from false representation to a judge(Court System) for personal and financial gain is illegal, inadmissable and itself is in contempt of the court system.


This sounds like another want to be manager, without knowing the facts,
it is hard to make an intelligent decision.

Anonymous said...

its wikipedia....dufus

Anonymous said...

12:26
You are part of the problem in this lawsuit happy socitey...
Try, in the future to be part of the solution...lawsuits only make lawyers wealthy..

Anonymous said...

"its wikipedia . . . dufus"

it's it's . . .dufus

Anonymous said...

Yes, but what Mr 12:26 ignored is the fact that a HIPAA suit can only be filed by the FEDERAL government not a private party. HIPAA is just a smoke screen for the witch hunt. Wake up. It's not libel if it's the truth or if it's merely stated as "rumors of" events.

And I think it's Doofus. But I prefer dimrod.

Anonymous said...

There is no way Essent can justify threatening and going after Holly and her family..

Nothing she did should have ever resulted in Dick contacting her husbands employer

END OF STORY

fac_p said...

As has been demonstrated, I do refrain from publishing some comments, both those who wish to just comment to me, and those who are a bit more profane than I would care for.

Email is an alternate method, and as such can also be as anonymous as a comment.

I'm alway willing to listen to an opposing point of view, as well as an affirming one.

Anonymous said...

Frank can you pick another highlight color for the frontrunner in your polls? That beige makes it very hard to read!! Maybe make it darker so the white text shows?

fac_p said...

Have to see if the widgets can be changed. It's mostly pre-packaged stuff, you just put in the question.

Anonymous said...

oooh the blue is nice! thank you!

Anonymous said...

Just to let you know there are now suggestion boxes (cardboard with gift wrap and bow) in the lobbies of both hospitals. Will anyone read, let alone do anything about the suggestions...who knows!

Anonymous said...

Wonder who's idea it was to sell off the health centers. If there's a savings, do they share in it?

Anonymous said...

Looks like Ducks and Co have been voting in your polls, Frank...they like that idiot judge's opinion!

Anonymous said...

The problem with typing up records is data security and transmission. The purpose of HIPAA was to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the healthcare system through the development of established health data standards and requirements for the transmission and storage of electronic health information. Currently, however, a select few EMR and medical transcription services comply with these standards. We need to create a licencing mechanism to ensure that companies are indeed HIPAA compliant, similar to how manufacturers get ISO-9001 certified. Otherwise, the act just turns into a marketing tag line for companies.