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A recent study of Social Media sites shows a significant lack of understanding about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA.
HIPAA
Specifically, the lack of knowledge surrounding HIPAA is not by people who post and comment on Social Media sites, but by the self-styled “HIPAA NAZIs” who rush to judge these posts.
The study, conducted by the Social Health Information Trade looked at such popular Facebook pages as “Nocturnal Medics”, “The Most Interesting Ambulance Crew In The World”, “Rescue Humor”, “911 You Called Me For What?”, “Paramedic’s Edge” and “911: You Can’t Make This Stuff Up”, which together have over 250,000 fans.
The study showed that without exception, the administrators and owners of these pages have an excellent working knowledge of HIPAA and are very familiar of what does and does not constitute a HIPAA violation. In addition, many of the fans posting on these pages likewise appear to be well-versed in HIPAA.
The same cannot be said for those people who frequently comment stating that a post or picture is a HIPAA violation. The study shows that almost without exception, these “HIPAA NAZIs” are at best annoying, and frequently so incorrect that it is laughable.
“Show me a HIPAA Nazi, and I’ll show you an idiot”, stated the study’s lead analyst, Paul K. Miller, Esq. in an interview. “I don’t know what it is about these people, but they can’t restrain themselves from crying ‘HIPAA Violation’ at the drop of a hat”, stated Mr. Miller. “They think they’re smarter than the people who make the initial posts, yet they spotlight their own ignorance every time they flap their gums” he said.
Indeed, a survey of several hundred of these “HIPAA Police” shows that the vast majority of them have never actually read the HIPAA Privacy Rule. When questioned on several items in it, most of those surveyed incorrectly identified several elements which are or are not covered by the Rule. In short, “They think EVERYTHING is a HIPAA violation” stated Miller.
The study concluded that the majority of these incorrect assumptions are due to faulty training. “You take someone who barely understands the information, let them consider themselves to be experts on the subject matter, and then go forth and teach HIPAA to others, and you have a recipe for disaster” stated Miller. “Basically, these people are idiots because they were taught by idiots” he said. “And they don’t have the brains to actually go read the act and learn for themselves, they just regurgitate the misinformation”.
Miller went on to say “These people pounce on every little thing, scream “HIPAA violation!” and sit back thinking they are geniuses. And their absolute favorite thing to attack is whenever someone accidentally spells the act ‘HIPPA’ instead of ‘HIPAA”. Holy Hell, do they live for that!” stated Miller. “Congratulations Brainiac. You can tell a ‘P’ from an ‘A’. Go try out for “Wheel of Fortune” and quit treating Facebook like it’s a third-grade spelling bee” concluded an obviously disgusted Miller.
