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Originally Posted by 44 AMP
...One should always consider the potential possibility, however remote it seems today, for abuse, both intentional and unintentional....
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The possibility of abuse always exist, no matter what. If a question is asked, there's always a possibility to abuse the answer. If a question is not asked there is always the possibility to abuse the resulting ignorance (What could I have done? I didn't know?).
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Originally Posted by MLeake
...do I dislike the potential for the system to be abused by some Mike Newell type?...
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And there is no system that can possibly be devised that can't be abused by somebody.
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Originally Posted by MLeake
... As I think about this, how many of us have received "Possible release of personal information" warnings from the VA, a hospital, a bank...? ...
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The only reason we have received those notices is that the various confidentiality laws enacted, at both the state and federal levels, have required the sending of those notices.
But no more information is being collected than was collected before those laws were adopted. The risks of improvident disclosure may have increased somewhat because to the sheer volume of information created by an increasing population and the increased, and necessary, reliance on electronic records management. But the information collected and maintained is no less necessary to the performance of the various services provided by those institutions than it was years ago.
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Originally Posted by MLeake
...I am still not a fan of centralized records...
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I'm not sure what you mean by "centralized records." If you mean combining all records from various private sources in one data base, that doesn't exist; and there has been solid resistance to anything of the sort.
But also, as is so often the case some things are neither all bad nor all good. The electronic management of claim and medical records by providers, insurance companies and Medicare/Medicaid payment intermediaries, while of course having a potential to be abused (anyone have any documented examples of actual abuse), there are also benefits.
Medication errors are a serious issue. Many of those error arise from a lack of access to other available medical information on a patient. Electronic management of medical records has helped ameliorate the problem. And audits of prescription drug claims records by payors have identify patients at risk of adverse drug interactions.
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Originally Posted by 44 AMP
...I'm not saying we should get all freaked out, or anything like that, but these things bear watching. Constant vigilance is the only thing we can, or should do, until and unless people in govt put forth specific proposals limiting our rights and our liberty....
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And that's the point. Constant vigilance and taking action when something concrete to act upon or against shows up is one thing. Gnashing of teeth and rending of garments over mere, undefined vague possibilities in another.
If something is a threat, act. But if one can't articulate why or how, in real life, something is an actual threat, stand down and watch.