Re: Confidentiality Policies in Dr's Off Site Office

[Lewis Lorton <llorton@shell.portal.com>]

  At 05:09 PM 5/8/96 -0400, you wrote:
  >Mr. Lorton wrote:
  >>The real challenge is to improve security and balance the costs against the
  >>effects on efficiency so that all stakeholders can live with the results.
  >
  >Therein lies the reason why we can never get consensus on some of these
  >issues.  We don't share the same basic values.  I am interested in costs but 
  >not at the sacrifice of *any* of my privacy.  My priorities are different than
  >yours Mr. Lorton.  I would rather forego treatment than risk my privacy in 
  >certain areas, so it is more than a matter of cost, but also access 
  >to health care.
  >
  Yes, I agree. I would rather have a hernia than have it examined in Time's
  Square - the benefit of treatment is too low compared to the loss of
  privacy.  But I will get routine health care if it only means that my health
  data will be shared in longitudinal studies to make evidence based medicine
  better.  There are no absolutes and I just don't buy your absolute
  willingness to forgo treatment and save your privacy.  
  Our goal is to make the cost in loss of privacy very low and the return in
  health care very high so that most people will consider it a good bargain.
  Lewis Lorton, Executive Director
  Healthcare Open Systems and Trials