During September, Costco becomes the newest retailer We’re taking on virtual primary care and offering our members $29 telemedicine visits, $72 standard test panels (with consultation), and $79 virtual treatment visits. This follows Amazon’s leap into limited in-person and mostly virtual primary care. Purchase One Medical At the beginning of this year, amazon pharmacy In 2020.
Alongside these retail giants, startups such as BetterHelp and Calmerry are also emerging as players in the online mental health therapy market, driven by the surge in demand for mental health services due to the COVID-19 pandemic and It satisfies both the desire for convenient access to. Therapy takes place in the privacy of your own environment.
When you share your personal sensitive medical information with a healthcare provider virtually or in-person, you expect your information to remain private and secure, but is that really the case?
In most cases, your health care provider willTarget entity” subject to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law that protects sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge. However, not all healthcare providers are subject to her HIPAA requirements.If your healthcare provider does not accept your insurance and therefore does not accept your insurance Submit an electronic claim If provided to an insurance company for billing purposes, the provider is not a covered entity subject to HIPAA requirements.
Many of these startups that offer virtual options for convenient care choose not to accept health insurance, and the reasons for doing so vary. Some do not believe that lowering the negotiated prices for the medical services they provide will still leave them with a viable business model, and that a direct-to-patient payment model is the only sustainable path forward. believe. Some believe that eliminating third-party interference strengthens the patient-provider relationship. Others simply want to avoid the complexity and complexity of rules such as medical record management, billing compliance, and prior authorization requirements for patients to receive certain treatments.
On the other hand, a provider’s decision not to accept insurance may give them more control over how they interact with patients. On the other hand, they are free from surveillance and certain legal requirements, such as HIPAA, meant to protect patients from bad actors.
What does this mean if you decide to use this type of service that is not covered by insurance? This means the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (the agency that enforces HIPAA). can’t protect you Protect against unauthorized disclosure of personal health information.of Arkansas Privacy Law — enforced by the Deceptive Trade Practices Act by the Arkansas Attorney General — requires “reasonable security procedures and practices” to protect personal information “from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure.” The law does not specify what disclosures are appropriate, although the law provides some limited protection in the event of a failure to “maintain”
Some states are fill the gap Under federal privacy law. for example, California Consumer Privacy Act provides privacy protections, including the right to know what personal information businesses collect and how it is used and shared, the right to opt out of having personal information shared, and the right to correct inaccurate personal information.
Under its authority to enforce federal laws prohibiting unfair and deceptive trade practices, the Federal Trade Commission has also been proactive regarding the mishandling of patient data. In March, FTC announced BetterHelp has been banned from publishing patient data, including mental health information, on social media sites for advertising purposes and has been fined $7.8 million for failing to honor its promise not to do so. This problem has Parliament’s attentiona public hearing was held to discuss the data-sharing practices of telehealth companies and policy makers. Comply with health and online location data privacy laws protections.
To be fair, many of these emerging virtual health providers have agreed to comply with HIPAA requirements, even if they are not subject to them, or have included privacy and security protections in their terms of service. It offers. It is important that you read and understand our Privacy Policy, including how we collect and use personal information.
Other ways to protect your personal information include:
- Learn about the platform We use them to help you make informed choices about the privacy protections offered.
- Opt out of optional cookies that share data about how you use the Platform and collect information for targeted marketing and advertising.
- Whenever possible, prevent platforms from accessing your social media accounts, contacts, and location information.
- Ask if the platform has a HIPAA-compliant policy and request documentation.
While virtual care certainly has the potential to improve access, especially for mental health needs, there are always tradeoffs in health care. If you use any of these services, please ensure that your information is as protected as possible. Don’t sacrifice privacy for convenience.
Editor’s note: Craig Wilson, D.C., MPA, is director of health policy at the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, an independent, nonpartisan health policy center in Little Rock. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
