I once went to the dermatologist, the doctor left the room briefly and had the computer screen open with everyone’s full name and reason for the visit that day…could see who was there for genital warts, Botox, etc. I don’t think anyone should expect that their health info remains private at any point
What your doctor did is actually a HIPAA violation. He's a covered entity and securing computer screens is a standard precaution for such.
In reality, a lot of doctor's offices are not well versed in HIPAA because many are de facto small businesses. Large hospitals and insurance companies generally have better knowledge of HIPAA and HIPAA compliance.
I just wish we would all stop pretending that everyone's medical info is protected when it clearly isn't...so now we have the worst of both worlds. All the red tape of HIPAA compliance with no actual privacy anyway. And it's plenty of red tape. I have to now find a FAX machine to send test results to a doctor, because according to him that's the only HIPAA compliant method that he accepts, but the sending doctor doesn't have a fax machine.
When I was in my teens, I chose to go on birth control pills when I became sexually active. Years later, I learned that the pharmacist was a friend of my mother's and told my mother I was on the pill.
Fortunately, my mother bit her tongue and said nothing to me until years later and just was glad I was not being stupid and would not end up pregnant out of wedlock. It could have gone really bad places for me if my mother were inclined to be abusive about it.
These days, a pharmacist is more likely to think twice before sharing that kind of info because it's illegal to do so and it could come back to bite them big time.
HIPAA also helps protect people from discrimination who have medical issues like STDs -- which aren't always sexually transmitted or may be transmitted because someone was assaulted, but some people will just be judgy and not give you the benefit of the doubt and it's a nightmare to have to defend your virtue and tell random strangers "I'm not a whore. I don't sleep around casually. I was raped at gun point." or some such.
Sorry it's such a pain in the ass for you. It's something that helps prevent casually ruinous oversharing for some people.
two seconds to clear the screen. a few dollars for a privacy shield.
your doctor was more than a little careless and, knowingly or not, relied on you to not cross any lines.
if that’s not concerning to you, fantastic… but for some reason you didn’t name the doctor, perhaps because you know others disagree. nor did you name the patients.
huh.
guess your doctor made a safe assumption about you. who else saw the warts list that day?
