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IP: HOW'S YOUR CREDIT? HOW'S YOUR HEALTH?
From: Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 16:25:45 -0400
HOW'S YOUR CREDIT? HOW'S YOUR HEALTH? In the old days (a few years ago), when you tried to cash a check at a retail store your name would be checked against a database of bad check writers, but now that database may reveal your whole credit history, your tendency to write a lot of checks in a very short time, and your tendency to write checks late at night. "Writing a check is considered a short-term loan and entitles us to look at credit reports," says a supervisor in the check authorization department of Federated Department Stores, Inc., one of many retailers concerned about the $10.2 billion of bad checks returned to U.S. banks each year. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 4 Oct 95 F1) Many companies also feel they have a right to know about your health. There is no federal law that protects the confidentiality of medical records, and 25% of people surveyed in a 1993 Louis Harris poll thought their own medical information had been improperly disclosed. Embarrassed by the disclosure that patient psychiatric notes were kept in a computerized database widely available to administrative staff, the Harvard Community Health Plan has implemented a privacy-sensitive audit trail that will enable primary care physicians to identify all persons who pull up patient records, and discipline or fire individuals who examine records without a valid reason. (Harvard Health Letter 20:11 Sep 95)
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- IP: HOW'S YOUR CREDIT? HOW'S YOUR HEALTH? Dave Farber (Oct 10)