I have been a patient at Central Maine Medical Center and have been for the past 10 years. I am writing this to inform others who are treated at CMMC that the hospital is involved in a program that automatically shares a patient's health information with other providers through a system called HealthInfoNet. It is supposed to make seeing other doctors easier, so they have the most up-to-date information.
Not only was I not made aware of this new program by the staff at the hospital, I had to take myself off the list.
Nearly everyone I have talked to had no idea their privacy was being compromised.
Not only are the records being shared with other providers, but to do so without a person's permission seems backward to me.
I have always been honest with my medical care providers and I wish to receive the same in return.
As a patient, I believe it is against my rights to automatically sign me up for a program I never wished to be part of.
Doctors are not gods; they make mistakes and unfortunately mistakes could follow patients around from provider to provider. As part of the residency program, I know that all too well.
Jessica Hutchinson, Auburn
Editor's note: According to a CMMC spokesman, when a patient comes to the hospital for care, they receive a Notice of Privacy document that explains HealthInfoNet is an opt-out program, including instructions about how patients can opt out. If a patient doesn't opt out, they are, by default, opted in. According to the hospital, patient information is shared only among HealthInfoNet participants, and users must have a valid reason for accessing patient information.
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Be your own gatekeeper
I have ALL my medical record. Every time I see a doctor, lab, hospital etc. I get copies of everything. If an office burns, is flood, closes or moves it does not matter. When I go to a new doctor I show up with all the file, films, lab report etc, no waiting or hoping for anything to be sent. Next do you have a cellphone? Your cellphone is equiped with an ICE file ICE standing for In Case of Emergency. You are supposed to put emergency contact information, medical conditions, allergies, and medication into that file. In the event of emergency, emergency workers are supposed to be trained to check your cellphones ICE file as one of the first things they do. ICE also comes in handy at doctor's appointments when you update your medication list since it is all right there. In the good old, pre-cell and other technology days of my grandparents, they carried this information around written out on a piece of paper in their wallets. HealthInfoNet does not guarantee accuracy or that it is up-to-date and does not go across state lines. If you travel as many do it is not going to help in the event of emergency or in transferring records.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Hate to break it to you, but
Hate to break it to you, but it's awful hard to tell first responders mid-stroke where your magical shoebox full 'o med records is. Also, they neither care nor have time for looking through your cell to find medical information. Your next of kin will be able to find your cell in the bag of belongings they pick up at security.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Unfortunately, when it comes
Unfortunately, when it comes to first responders in Maine, like so many other thing in Maine, you may be correct in it being too much to expect them to check cellphone ICE Mac antSaior. I am going to assume that you have first hand knowledge of these thing as a first responder or in some other capacity. In the rest of the country first responders and emergency room staffs are trained to do this as one of their first acts to determine if the patient may have a pre-existing condition to explain their state such as epilepsy or diabetes or which must be taken into consideration in their treatment. With giving you that they will not check a cellphone, I also have to blow HealthInfoNet out of the water since without identification (Name, date of birth, address) it is useless. Since by your statement we can be sure first responders are not going to check cellphones, wallet or "bag of belonging" for information we can rule out their finding out who you are and accessing your HealthInfoNet file, that is if you are a Maine resident and receiving any of your medical care in Maine through HealthInfoNet participanting providers. Ideally Maine will catch up with the rest of the country in training first responders and emergency department personnel to check ICE files, wallets, etc for medical and identifying information.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Good for you
Since state law precludes the sharing of behavioral health/psychiatric health information via Maineinfonet.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.my daughter was born in
my daughter was born in bangor and saw several specialists in that area. we have since moved down here, and she has doctors in lewiston and portland. trying to get all the doctors all the info they need from each other took almost 3 years, many "lost" faxes, and 2 trips to bangor to portland and back we finally are all up to date. i now get copies of every visit for myself in case someone wants some info that i can send myself. i have always been concerned about long distance trips because of the nightmare an accident could cause. infonet is such a good idea to keep doctors in the loop, and easy for another hospital to get much needed info in the case of an emergency. i like it.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Dr. David Blumenthal, New England Journal of Medicine
For anyone who wishes to read more, here is a link to an article in July's New England Journal of Medicine about meaningful use of Electronic Medical Records, cowritten by David Blumenthal. Dr. Blumenthal is the national coordinator for health information technology at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington DC
http://healthpolicyandreform.nejm.org/?p=3732
Within the article is this: The widespread use of electronic health records (EHRs) in the United States is inevitable. EHRs will improve caregivers’ decisions and patients’ outcomes. Once patients experience the benefits of this technology, they will demand nothing less from their providers. Hundreds of thousands of physicians have already seen these benefits in their clinical practice (snip) employ EHRs to support the patient’s transitions between care settings or personnel.
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Healthinfonet is NOT an invasion of patient privacy, rather it is a useful tool for healthcare providers as well as protection for patients to assure the best possible healthcare for all Maine citizens.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Medical health professionals
Medical health professionals are close to enveiling a credit card sized device which could store all your medical information - everything you give a medical provider permission to place electronically into the file - lab results, hospital stays, prescription records...this is for the good of the patient and can only help any provider expected to make quick decisions, such as an emergency room visit while away from home. It wil be the patients choice as to what is on the file, but only those with something to hide would not want information there. HIPAA laws protect the patient from premature or unneccesary disclosures, and yes much more secure than a bank or business. I look forward to the public launch of the products in the next couple years, both as a consumer and as an investor.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.healthnet
So you live in one area of the state, travel to another area, have a serious medical problem that needs immediate intervention. Oh let's not forget the 30 medications you take for your 16 medical problems, and the 10 allergies you have. Would you like the medical providers to know about these quickly or would you like them to call your doctors office, (oops that went into the voice mail because the staff was busy), wait for the records to show up on the fax, then the clerk brings them to your treatment room, hopefully while your still alive, or the provider can look you up in a few seconds thus assuring you timely treatment and a better, and quicker recovery. This is a no brainer. Oh and this an effort coordinated at the state level, not by hospital systems. Having seen this work first hand, this system is excellent. I hope those of you who have opted out reconsider for your own sake.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.The old way vs the new
The old way of sharing medical info - you go to a new doc, specialist, or are seen in an ER. The office staff calls your provider's office to fax your paper chart to them. If the office is open, the person takes the info and passes it along to the file clerk, who looks for your paper chart and then faxes the chart to the requesting provider. Hopefully the office is open, the file clerk is available and can get to it without much delay, hopefully the chart is where it's supposed to be, hopefully the fax machines are both working and the fax number is correct, hopefully someone at the new doc's or ER is available to retrieve the info from the machine without delay, and hopefully there are no nosy nellies in either office who are curious about what's going on with you and want to sneak a peek at your paper medical record, with all your personal info in it. Who would know if they did? Probably no one. And if the fax number is incorrectly taken or entered, who knows where your personal medical information will end up?
The new way of sharing medical info - the new doc, specialist, or ER doc brings your name, DOB, and other identifiers up on Healthinfonet, and has all the medical information needed to treat you right there. There is a record of who has accessed your information and when via the passwords used, which ensures that no unauthorized persons have access to your information.
Drug seekers HATE the new way, they know there is a record of where they've been and what they are already being prescribed for narcotics.
To my way of thinking, Healthinfonet is the future of healthcare. Time and money are saved and medical information is available only to those who need it with a few keystrokes.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.If you have ever reviewed your records this would alarm you!
I had not been informed of this during my stay at CMMC either. After reading the letter I immediately called CMMC and was referred to a PR person Gerry Mower and of course got voice mail. What getting of this has to do with PR is beyond me except it probably will cut into CMMCs bottom line. I did not get a call back so tried again requesting this individual only to get voice mail again. After waiting and several more attempts I hit 0 and got someone else who said I need to talk to this PR person and I explained that made no sense to me I wanted off this system. She wanted to get my name and number and track down someone and call me back and I insisted on holding since I now had no trust in getting a call back. I was transferred to medical records. Then I was told I would be put back in the que and to hit 3. That person said they had nothing to do with healthinfonet. Finally I got someone who said I had to go to HealthInfoNet's website to get out of the system. The URL is Hinfonet.org. Go to the bottom of the page and there is a big button to opt out. Fill out the form and it is supposed to be done. Do I trust it. HELL NO! I will be calling healthinfonet tomorrow to make sure I have been deleted. I get copies of everything from my doctors to keep in my files to take when needed. I review everything for accuracy and demand corrections be made when there are errors. It is amazing how a simple injury or minor surgery in your past reported to new doctor can become a major mental health condition when transcribed in a medical record and if you don't catch it and fix it will follow you for ever. A cut can become cancer which will run your insurability etc. Try to track down and get fixed all the data transfers when an error occurs in something like this healthinfonet is a disaster waiting to happen. You though identity theft was bad, huh you aint seen nothing yet.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.If you have ever reviewed your records this would alarm you!
I had not been informed of this during my stay at CMMC either. After reading the letter I immediately called CMMC and was referred to a PR person Gerry Mower and of course got voice mail. What getting of this has to do with PR is beyond me except it probably will cut into CMMCs bottom line. I did not get a call back so tried again requesting this individual only to get voice mail again. After waiting and several more attempts I hit 0 and got someone else who said I need to talk to this PR person and I explained that made no sense to me I wanted off this system. She wanted to get my name and number and track down someone and call me back and I insisted on holding since I now had no trust in getting a call back. I was transferred to medical records. Then I was told I would be put back in the que and to hit 3. That person said they had nothing to do with healthinfonet. Finally I got someone who said I had to go to HealthInfoNet's website to get out of the system. The URL is Hinfonet.org. Go to the bottom of the page and there is a big button to opt out. Fill out the form and it is supposed to be done. Do I trust it. HELL NO! I will be calling healthinfonet tomorrow to make sure I have been deleted. I get copies of everything from my doctors to keep in my files to take when needed. I review everything for accuracy and demand corrections be made when there are errors. It is amazing how a simple injury or minor surgery in your past reported to new doctor can become a major mental health condition when transcribed in a medical record and if you don't catch it and fix it will follow you for ever. A cut can become cancer which will run your insurability etc. Try to track down and get fixed all the data transfers when an error occurs in something like this healthinfonet is a disaster waiting to happen. You though identity theft was bad, huh you aint seen nothing yet.
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Don't worry, they are watched carefully, and they are prohibited by law form sharing information without reason. This is much ado about nothing, as your bank is probably more flippant with your information
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.I was not told about this!
I was recently a patient at RCH tranfered to CMMC. I have every piece of paper I was given. After reading this letter I went through the papers and there is nothing about this whatsoever. To make matters worse, I, my primary care, and the doctor in Portland I have transferred to after my disasterous experience have not been able to get the records we need from CMMC! It is outrageous that my providers and I cannot get them but they are sharing them with others probably for profit. What is worse is I know my records are heavily flowed, that these doctors do not listen to each other and they sure were not listening to me or I would not have awoken in surgery and been told repeatedly to "just go back to sleep," how stupid is that? Been so severly bruised it will take monthes to heal due to a bleeding disorder that I reported repeatedly and one person recorded. I know it was recorded because I was awake when they "discovered" what they did, I heard the panic, followed by explatives and exclaimations on looking at the record and blurting out of "Oh, My God she has . . . we shouldn't have and should have ." Shortly after I also was horrified to learn that a piece of metal was put in by body without my concent. They could not or would not tell me what it was made of just metal and it was only through my Portland doctor I know that is 70% nickle and I am allergic to nickle which I also made sure to emphasize repeatedly and that may well cause me huge potentially life threatening problems and have to come out involving life threatening big time major surgery. My Portland doctor asked me how I thought I ended up in this situation, " I told him CMMC spends a lot of money on marketing, advertising everywhere you turnaround. They have to pay for it somehow. Advertising doesn't make you it is the product and service and they obviously are spending huge amounts on advertising to make up for the problems with quality of the product and service." I have called both Rumford Community Hospital and CMMC and am getting the runaround on getting off this list. They dared tell me I had the option of opting out when I was there. How do you opt out of something you know nothing about? Next time I will walk to Portland if I'm bleeding to death.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Like we all wanted to know your medical history...
So what is the concern with sharing on your part you have just told us more than even your doctor needed to know. Why don't you go see "Hardly Wolf it Down" and get your inevitable lawsuit underway. You should have read all your documents before you signed so I have no sympathy for you at all. Keep doctor shopping Rush did.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond."doctor shopping"
Anyone who has been seeing the same doctor for a period of time will tell you "doctor shopping" is at time very necessary. Doctors, just like people, form opinions and treat you based on their opinions. Often times their opinion is wrong and they dont think outside the box. So you end up seeing your doctor twice a month to get the proper diagnosis. Everyone should doctor shop when it becomes obvious that your doctor is not helping you and only treating what he thinks you need.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.I was never "doctor shopping"
I was never "doctor shopping" if you read my article you would see that I've been a patient there for 10 years and I NEVER signed a paper to be involved in the program. There was no paper to be signed you were automatically put in the program. Maybe you should read what's right in front of you before you voice your ignorant opinion. I'm not going to sue them I never said that the purpose to is make other people AWARE that CMMC is doing this and you need to sign a paper to OPT OUT you are automatically put on the program.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Even information shared in
Even information shared in HealthinfoNot is covered by HIPPA. It's still treated as confidential information and only professionals with a need to know have access.
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