If you want my opinion....
Has nothing to do with HIPPA.
You would be surprised, all the nonsense some providers blame on hippa.
For instance...our ped dentist says that b/c of hipaa, patient parents can't talk on their cellphones. Last I heard, hippa impacts the provider..it doesn't put any rules onto the patients. And if they'd just stop from coming out into the crowded waiting room and speaking clearly, loudly, and in depth, about patients' needs, conditions, and issues, then perhaps they wouldnl't have a problem. We love the dentist for his skills, but as soon as DS is ready to come to my and hubby's dentist, we're out of there and leaving quite the letter for them about putting restrictions on people in the waiting room and blaming it on hipaa.
Given how litigious people are today, I don't blame any doctor for being meticulous and over-cautious with regard to how they comply with HIPAA.
On the other hand, hipaa is a set of rules for the provider. If one guy says that xyz is b/c of hipaa, but that's not actually in the rules, seems that guy is now wide open for a problem.
So let's say the OP's doctor refuses to let her in the room, and her hubby forgets something that turns out to be vitally important. Because of the problem, hubby ends up with something seriously wrong; if OP had been in the room, the condition would have been mentioned, the doseage would have been questioned or understood more perfectly, etc. Because this restriction is NOT part of hipaa, assuming the hubby isn't secretly saying "no, she can't come in", hipaa isn't going to be a legal leg to stand on, when OP rightfully reports the guy.
I have seen nothing in HIPAA that says that regular emergency contact designation satisfies the privacy requirements for doctor-patient discussions.
I agree with that!
Also, your DH could write down any of his/your concerns to present to the dr. so he won't forget anything.
As far as hipaa, you will find a different form in every office you go to. There are standards to follow but offices are left to their own devices to construct the verbiage. In ours it's a generic form but has nothing to do with to whom we are allowed to speak.
I definitely think that if the OP is going to continue to go, that's what hubby will have to do.
That different form thing...it's so ridiculous. And, um, isn't "to whom we are allowed to speak" one of the biggest parts of the purpose of hipaa??????
What's driving me batty about it is that the way the forms are makes it seem taht hipaa is put on the patients. When it's the providers that are impacted by it. We, as patients, should be having the providers sign forms. "this is who you can talk to, this is who you can't, you can call me here. now PROMISE that you won't talk to anyone I haven't told you you can talk to".
I'm definitely thinking of writing up some of those forms, b/c they make more sense than the providers giving US forms for US to sign. It impacts THEM, governs THEM, not US.
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