And the point is among the many that can be made due to the ambiguity--and therefore possibly unforseen consequences--of the HIPPA regulations. There is great possibility of varying--and unsubstantiated--interpretation.

I have been in offices in which staff has told me that HIPPS regulations prevent them from releasing my OWN medical records to ME. This is blatantly ridiculous, of course, and completely illogical, but I've had staff insist that it's true.

Many helath care personnel also seem to believe that HIPPA keeps them from having medical discussions of a general nature about patients in the aggregate, beyond mentioning anything identifiying about a particular patient. For instance, I've had staff tell me that HIPPA prevents them how many times a surgeon has performed a particular procedure. (That's just nervous, fearful, cover-your-*** excuse-ology.)

And then there are incidents of HIPPA leading to important medical info being kept from people it was never meant to--including situations described herein (the article is reprinted form the 7/3/07 edition of the New York Times):

http://www.ltcsbooks.com/Articles/HIPPA.htm

I've been writing for a while that one day HIPPA misapplication is going to be involved in a high profile lawsuit in which medical info that could not be quickly shared will lead to a patient's death, and have been one of many people urging Congress to re-draft and reconsider and clarify its provisions.

I give each new doctor I go to (not many, these days) a letter with my signature indicating that my medical records SHOULD--not MAY--be shared with "the following members of my family, friends/advocates, and the other listed physicians"; it's a two-pager now. It's annoying to have to do this, but it provides protection for all parties involved--and it doesn't leave room for excuses when I want testing results forwarded.