#the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is not what you think it is!

[exeggcute]

rule of thumb do not take medical advice from anyone who misspells HIPAA as "HIPPA"... surefire way to tell that they clearly don't know what the fuck they're talking about lol

#not that spelling HIPAA correctly means you're right but I have never once seen 'HIPPA' advice that wasn't flat-out wrong #the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is not what you think it is!

[mariacallous]

Health care systems do their best to safeguard against breaches. But all of us could be doing more to protect our confidential health data. That starts with understanding when this data is most at risk.

When a patient called to ask if she could email me a CT report and imaging, I wanted to help. But I heard the loud whirring of a smoothie or espresso machine and figured she was at a public café. She confirmed that she was calling from a coffee shop.

I asked her to use our hospital portal from home to protect her privacy. She said she wasn’t sure she remembered her login details and didn’t want to wait. She also didn’t understand why her records wouldn’t be protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

“I’m not surprised,” says Nichole Sweeney, general counsel and chief privacy officer for Chesapeake Regional Information System for Patients, a nonprofit health information exchange for several US states.

“The public may not realize that consumer-generated data is not protected. What she does with her own information is not secure. The federal government doesn’t regulate the health data itself. It’s the actual facility, medical office, or hospital—under HIPAA, a covered entity under that designation.”

Many of us also have devices at home that collect and store personal data about our health. I asked Sweeney if that data is covered if my doctor asked me to use the device.

She explains, “If I get my blood pressure taken at a clinic or any medical office, that is covered, and your personal data is protected. But if you take readings at home, this is not HIPAA. It’s not regulated. Those new wearable trackers? Those are not covered either. You’re on your own.”

So what else is not regulated? People. Any person using their own data is not covered under HIPAA.

Matt Fisher worked as a health care corporate and regulatory attorney. He is now general counsel for Carium, a virtual care platform. He believes people need more education about HIPAA and its limitations.

“It works effectively for what it was designed to do within the traditional health care industry. The issue is the assumption that it protects all information regardless of setting,” he says. “The fact is, as an individual who holds their own information HIPAA does not apply at all.”

Beyond hospitals and private medical offices, who is actually covered? Subcontractors. These include third-party associates, health plans, insurance companies, and individual physician providers. Labs, clinics, and any other medical offices that bill for their services are also expected to be HIPAA-compliant. Notably, this does not include social media businesses.

Even doctors, notoriously busy and working long hours, don’t always have the luxury of using patient portals to communicate effectively. They’re more likely to text or email colleagues with potentially sensitive information, all on personal devices that may or may not be locked down. But their goal is fast and efficient patient care, not necessarily data security.

Zubin Damania, who is a doctor and goes by ZDoggMD on social media, uses satire on his YouTube channel to educate viewers and poke fun at the health care system. His more than 488,000 YouTube subscribers no doubt include health care employees, but you don’t have to be one to appreciate parodies like “EHR State of Mind” (EHR is short for electronic health records), which is set to Alicia Keys’ hit “Empire State of Mind,” or “Readmission,” a play on R. Kelly’s “Ignition.” Damania hopes to inspire change in the health care tech sector so, as he puts it, “doctors can just be doctors.” Another target of his satire? Massive health data portals like Epic. He and other physicians believe the design of these systems can actually hinder security if medical personnel find it more restrictive than care-focused.

“Epic and others like it were not designed for use by clinicians on the front line trying to help patients,” he says. “These systems are giant billing platforms. It’s varying fields of data to be walled off.”

Sadly, Epic and others like it are all we have when it comes to storing patient data safely, and despite their flaws, these portals are still the safest available option for doctors and patients. Health care facilities are strictly regulated to receive federal government funding, and they must pass safety certifications, including security protections for patient data. They also seek to maintain industry recognition in order to stay credible and competitive. Want to make a hospital exec nervous? Tell them the Joint Commission is coming by for a visit. They need those gold star approval ratings.

Some patients are under the misconception that these systems are not really that secure. But in the past few years, data breaches have been rare (though they do happen). Hackers frequently target hospitals and health care systems for ransomware attacks, but it doesn’t pay for hackers to demand money when robust backups exist. While the industry has made some progress, the problem of individuals taking personal risks continues.

A former Department of Homeland Security adviser and a doctor, Chris Pierson is CEO of BlackCloak, a company that specializes in personal digital protection from financial fraud, cybercrime, reputational damage, and identity theft. He believes vigilance is key for doctors and patients alike.

Protect Your Entire Family

“I don’t think people realize that once someone is able to get just one piece of information, that can lead to opening others’ private data,” Pierson says. “It’s no longer the original individual on their computer, but additional family members’ identity that can be compromised.”

He explains that even if one organization keeps your data safe, another associated one may not, and that’s where criminals will strike. 

“It’s not just medical offices. It’s your pharmacy, labs, insurance company, anyone who keeps personal information. That has real value, and selling it is the priority.”

Victims of identity theft can be revictimized when personal information gets into multiple hands. A street address and verified phone number can go far, especially if the phone contains many contacts, who then become vulnerable to attack themselves.

“If you get Mom’s info, you can get the child’s as well. An ID card, social security, all of it, and then they have the ability to collect false medical claims or just extortion. It’s a two for one.”

Two-Factor Authentication Is Worth the Effort

Pierson mentions how critically important it is to use a multistep authentication system. Your level of protection goes up considerably just by using secure passwords and one-time authentication codes.

Thankfully, setting all this up is easier than it sounds. Apps on your phone or tablet can help. Google Authenticator, when paired with a service that supports authenticator apps, provides a six-digit number that changes every few seconds and can keep people out of your data even if they have your username and password. Other companies ask users to enter an SMS code as the second authentication factor, in addition to a password, although SMS codes are less secure than authenticator apps. Either approach is better than none—unless a hacker is in physical possession of your phone, they are not getting access.

Social Media and Tracking

Social media is becoming a popular way for health care providers and entrepreneurs to connect with the public—and often to sell them treatments or advice. These Instagram or TikTok accounts may offer tips from someone in the medical industry, which can appeal to those facing rising health care costs and difficulties accessing care. But an internet doctor’s background or popularity does not ensure that they observe strong privacy guidelines or secure their transactions.

My Instagram is flooded with offers promising everything from better sleep to improved sexual health. It’s nice to have options, but that help and any information you receive from those accounts or send to them isn’t covered under HIPAA. Any time you pay out of your own pocket for health-related items or services, or on a direct-to-consumer health app, there is no recourse if someone steals your personal information or shares it.

Along with social media and direct-to-consumer health options comes large-scale data tracking. Outside of official medical practices, you should view surveillance as an expectation, rather than an exception.

Ask Questions

When you sign up for any service, whether through a new doctor’s patient portal or an online supplement shop, ask how your data is stored and where it goes. Read the privacy policies and settings, even briefly, to find out what options you have to restrict the sale or reuse of your data. Check the default settings to make sure you’re not giving away too much information. Find out if the service or platform offers two-factor authentication and set that up if it’s available. Know that it’s rare for anyone to need your social security number, no matter what a customer service agent says. A birth date and address is usually enough.

Pierson and others agree that we all need to consider security from several angles and do our best to protect ourselves and our loved ones. “The sophistication of identity attacks will always evolve and change. Remember, they only have to get it right once, but we have to guess right all of the time.”

[alatariel-galadriel]

3 Common Misconception: HIPAA Edition

(aka I have HIPAA tattooed under my eyelids and I want to make it everyone else’s problem)

This is pedantic, but the act protecting your health information is HIPAA, not HIPPA. One ‘p’, two ‘a’s. HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, not the oft-quoted (and non-existent) Health Information Privacy & Protection Act. Not a huge deal, since it protects your health information regardless, but it’s a pretty decent metric to mark if someone actually knows what they’re talking about.

HIPAA protects you from employees of healthcare organizations sharing your information without your consent.  HIPAA violations occur when someone who has access to your medical information *as part of their job* either a) purposely accesses information outside of their job requirements b) shares your health information without your consent or c) puts health information in a position where it can be improperly accessed by others, purposefully or not. You can shout your medical information to the hills. People who you've told your medical information to can shout it to the hills, so long as they didn’t get that information through their job. People can demand that you share your information--but your doctor can’t hand it over without your consent.

Exceptions to HIPAA exist. There's quite a few of them, actually, and I’ve made a detailed list below the cut; but to correct the biggest misconception: yes, there are situations where health care employees are required to share your information with the government. This typically falls under mandatory reporting (think child abuse, gunshot wounds, or highly infectious diseases), but your information can also be accessed via warrant or subpoena for criminal proceedings.

Here is the government’s webpage breaking down the HIPAA Privacy Rule if you want to know more! I love love love HIPAA and will gladly talk about it for as long as anyone will let me (hence the cut below).

Detailed breakdown of HIPAA exceptions under the cut:

TPO: This stands for Treatment, Payment and Operations, because if your health info was on complete lockdown, no healthcare entity could function. Employees can access/share your info when that info is necessary for them to...

Provide treatment (ie: your nurse can share your info with your doctor)

 Receive payment (ie: giving your info to your insurance company)

Maintain operations (ie: health data/medical records staff. This is me--as a health systems analyst, I can’t do my job without access to the data within the medical records system)

Public Interest: ie: when required by law/governmental function. This includes:

Mandatory reporting (discussed above. Healthcare professionals are required to report infectious diseases like measles or rabies, as well as incidents like gunshot wounds or domestic violence.)

Health oversight activities. These are the organizations who evaluate and investigate whether a facility meets safety/performance regulations and standards. Trust me, you want your info shared with these folks!! 

 Law Enforcement. I’m going to be really specific here, because there’s been a lot of (justifiable) concern post-Roe v Wade. Your info can be shared if it is is…

Subpoenaed, court ordered, or court-ordered warrant by a court, judge, or administrative tribunal

 Requested by law enforcement to id a suspect, fugitive, witness, or missing person

 Requested by law enforcement for info about a victim/suspected victim of crime

 To alert law enforcement of a person’s death if the organization believes a crime has occurred

If the healthcare organization believes the information is evidence of a crime that occurred on its premises.

In emergency situations, providers can share information about the nature of a crime, the location of crime/victims, and the perpetrator of the crime.

Decedents: Funeral directors, coroners, and medical examiners all need your info to do their jobs, Being deceased, you can’t give your authorization, so an healthcare org sharing your info with them is not a HIPAA violation

Organ/Eye/Tissue donation: pretty self-explanatory. Some of your information as a donor might be shared to ensure a healthy transplant.  

Research (limited data sets): This one tends to freak people out, but if you’re on one of these, anything that can identify you is removed (name, address, etc.). Instead, details of specific conditions/treatments are stored to provide data for researchers. For example, every state has, by law, a cancer registry--used to identify sudden spikes that might be attributable to environmental factors.

Serious threats to health/safety. If a serious, specific threat is made against a person or the public, this can be shared with law enforcement and the person who the threat is made against. There’s a lot of grey area here in what counts as a specific threat, and this can get complicated quickly, but if someone tells a medical professional that they are planning on harming you, you will be notified alongside law enforcement. Likewise for a bomb or other public threat.

Essential government functions. If you are in prison or other correctional facility, you are not protected by HIPAA. Some government benefit programs will require the disclosure of health information. (It also includes national security and military missions).

And last, but not least: worker’s compensation. Healthcare orgs have to share parts of your information for you to receive worker’s comp, as part of the verification process. Fantastic!

#I am here to make my rote memorization of HIPAA everybody else’s problem 😊 #it’s so fascinating because HIPAA is ubiquitous in the U.S and also just. So misunderstood. #which makes sense because it’s not something you learn unless you’re in the field but it drives me bananas to see a certain type of person #be so confidently Wrong about it. I am gripping you by the shoulders. Vaccine mandates are NOT hipaa violations. I promise. Cross my heart #Epidemiological surveillance is your friend. Please trust me on this. It is beautiful and wonderful and necessary i promise #my job and degree is health information management/informatics so this is my bread and butter #i love health information!! #i love hipaa!! #my roommate does not. mainly because i talk about it constantly #but that's on them for signing a lease with me! they lived with me while i was getting my RHIA cert. they knew what they were signing up fo

[thoughtsofjessica]

Healthcare App Development: A Step-to-Step Guide

In the fast-paced world of technology, healthcare app development has emerged as a crucial tool to enhance patient care, streamline processes, and improve overall healthcare efficiency.

Developing a healthcare app requires careful planning and execution. In this step-by-step guide, we'll walk you through the key stages of healthcare app development, providing a roadmap for developers at an intermediate level.

Define Your Purpose and Target Audience

Before you start Health Care App Development, you need to know why you're making it and who will use it. Think about what the app will do – whether it's helping patients keep track of their health, connecting doctors and patients online, or managing medical records.

Understanding the purpose helps you make decisions about what features to include. Then, consider who will be using your app. Are you targeting patients, doctors, or both? Knowing your audience helps you design the app in a way that meets their needs. For example, if it's for patients, the app should be easy to use and provide helpful information.

If it's for doctors, it should support their work efficiently. By defining your purpose and target audience clearly, you set the foundation for a successful healthcare app that truly helps people and makes a positive impact in the world of healthcare.

Conduct a Comprehensive Market Research

Before starting your business, it's crucial to do thorough market research. This means taking a good look at what's happening in the market where you want to sell your products or services. Market research helps you understand your customers better and figure out what they need and want.

You can do this by talking to people, looking at what your competitors are doing, and studying trends. By doing this, you can find out if there's a demand for your product or service and if there's room for your business to grow.

It's also important to look at things like pricing and how you'll reach your customers. Market research might seem like a lot of work, but it's really important for the success of your business. It helps you make smart decisions and gives you a better chance of doing well in the market. So, take the time to do your research and learn as much as you can before diving into your business venture.

Ensure Compliance with Healthcare Regulations

The healthcare sector is highly regulated, with stringent laws protecting patient data and privacy.

Familiarize yourself with healthcare regulations such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) to ensure your app complies with legal requirements.

Plan Your App Architecture

When you plan your app architecture, you're figuring out how everything will work together. It's like making a blueprint before building a house. You need to decide what features your app will have and how they will connect.

Think about it like organizing different rooms in a house so that they make sense and are easy to move between. In the same way, you'll organize different parts of your app so that users can navigate easily and everything works smoothly.

You also need to consider what tools and technologies you'll use to build your app. Just like a builder chooses the right materials for a house, you'll choose the right software tools for your app. This step is crucial because it sets the foundation for the entire development process. By planning your app architecture carefully, you can make sure your app is sturdy, reliable, and easy to expand in the future.

So take your time, think it through, and create a solid plan before you start building your app. It'll save you a lot of time and headaches later on!

Choose the Right Technology Stack

Selecting the appropriate technology stack is crucial for the success of your healthcare app. Consider factors such as the platform (iOS, Android, or both), programming language, and database. Opt for technologies that align with your project requirements and team expertise.

Develop a User-Friendly Interface

Design an intuitive and user-friendly interface that caters to the specific needs of healthcare professionals and patients. Prioritize simplicity and accessibility to enhance user experience, making it easy for users to navigate through the app.

Implement Robust Security Measures

Given the sensitive nature of healthcare data, security is paramount. Implement robust security measures to protect patient information and maintain the confidentiality of medical records. Encryption, secure authentication, and regular security audits are essential components.

Integrate Data Interoperability

Healthcare apps often need to exchange data with other systems, such as electronic health records (EHRs) or laboratory information systems. Ensure seamless data interoperability by implementing standardized protocols and formats for data exchange.

Test Thoroughly

Thorough testing is essential to identify and fix bugs before the app goes live. Conduct functional, security, and usability testing to ensure a reliable and error-free healthcare app. Engage users and gather feedback during the testing phase to make necessary improvements.

Obtain Regulatory Approvals

Before launching your healthcare app, obtain necessary regulatory approvals and certifications. This step is critical to ensure your app complies with healthcare standards and is deemed safe for use by both healthcare professionals and patients.

Conclusion

healthcare app development is a meticulous process that demands attention to detail, compliance with regulations, and a user-centric approach. Following this step-by-step guide can help intermediate-level developers navigate the complexities of healthcare app development, ultimately contributing to the advancement of healthcare technology and improving patient outcomes.

#HealthTech #MobileHealth #DigitalHealth #HealthcareApps #MedTech

[carvergibbs77]

What Do You Want Online Privacy To Turn Into?

Information privacy laws manage how an individual's personal data is collected, dealt with, utilized, processed and shared. Federal laws in the United States do little to protect their citizens from the abuse of their information, other than in particular circumstances.

Online Privacy With Fake ID: Do You Really Want It? This May Make It Easier To Decide!

California was the very first to pass a state information privacy law, designed after the European GDPR. The U.S. secures its people' information from being misused by business and corporations to some degree, it likewise has some of the most intrusive monitoring laws in the world. Regardless of U.S. federal government security, numerous companies take advantage of the hands-off method the U.S. takes to the web. Fortunately, while there is no U.S. federal law governing data security on the internet, states have begun to get wise to this and have actually carried out laws of their own, controling the handling of web data. In June, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce voted 53-2 in favor of the American Data and Privacy Protection Act (ADPPA), which would supply federal defense of individual data. ADPPA still needs to pass your home and Senate, and get White House assistance. We will upgrade this post with more information as the act moves through the U.S. legal process. Data privacy laws govern how business and the federal government deal with the data of their users and people, respectively. In some cases, information security laws might dictate that a company requires to ask for specific approval from its users to manage their data in a certain method. These are only a few of the methods data security laws can keep your delicate data personal and safe. Various U.S. states have various information privacy laws, so how safe you are will depend on your area, but in many cases these laws have an extraterritorial reach. This holds true with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If a company wants to operate in Europe or serve European people, it needs to abide by the strict law of the GDPR, which we hold today as the gold standard for information protection. Switzerland surpasses even that level of protection, codifying data privacy into its constitution. Nothing surprising here, however those scenarios led me to ask this question; should you register your individual information online? Sometimes it can be essential to register on online sites using phony data and some individuals might also want to consider alternatives! Why are information privacy laws important? Some individuals might think their info is safe, but information breaches or improper handling of data can have dreadful repercussions. Let's look at a concrete example. HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is a privacy law that prevents doctors from sharing their patients' medical information. Examples of HIPAA offense include whatever from snooping on records or denying clients access to their health care records, to failure to manage security dangers or failure to utilize encryption. If somebody's individual information is involved in a healthcare data breach, hopefully the HIPAA law assists secure those clients-- otherwise information ends up being exposed, consisting of patient's names, social security numbers, dates of birth, monetary account numbers, lab or test results, insurance information, passwords and more.. You can see why data privacy laws are necessary to secure this personal details. We can point you toward our information privacy statistics post and identity theft statistics short article if you require help imagining what could go wrong with that delicate data exposed. There aren't many information privacy laws enacted at a federal level, and the ones that remain in location are pretty particular as to what sort of information they cover and the groups they protect. We'll outline the most substantial ones below, but know that there are lots of minor case-specific laws and policies for information privacy. The Privacy Law is a major data privacy law that applies to how the federal government and its firms manage the information of U.S. residents. The Privacy Act enables citizens to gain access to and view the federal government records including their data, as well as demand a modification in the records in case of mistakes.

The law likewise secures versus intrusions of privacy coming from the handling of a person's individual information. It likewise avoids the info in the federal system of records from being launched or shared without composed authorization of the individual (with a few exceptions). The Federal Trade Commission was generally created to handle problems occurring from organizations using shady financial practices. The FTC also functions as the federal government's guard dog for data privacy, at least where businesses are worried. Under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which brought the FTC into presence, the FTC prevents business and financial institutions from taking part in "misleading or unjust acts or practices" toward their clients. This area avoids business from misrepresenting how they handle your data. Facebook made several false claims in the years leading up to a 2012 FTC suit, including deceptive users about the visibility of posts and details they marked as "personal" or "pals just," as well as sharing information with third-party apps. The GLBA states that all monetary institutions must fully reveal how they handle and share the data of clients. The GLBA likewise includes a clause about data security called the Safeguards Rule, which mentions that institutions covered must also offer an appropriate level of defense for your data. The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a law controling how consumer information is handled, focusing on consumer credit details. It makes sure that consumer reports (or credit reports) are constantly precise, and avoids consumer reporting companies from purposefully and maliciously changing details in those reports. The data in these reports is gathered by consumer reporting agencies, such as credit bureaus, medical details companies and renter screening services. Sometimes it can be essential to register on web sites using make-believe details and some people may also wish to think about #links#!

#fake id #fake drivers license

[phantomtutor]

6 Discussion QuestionsOrganizational BehaviorWeek 8 DiscussionPlease respond to the following:Hypothesize on what causes organizations to change.Recall a specific instance when you experienced significant change at work.Week 9 DiscussionPlease respond to the following:Name a leader who has helped shape your professional career.Detail lessons learned and strategies acquired from this leader.Week 10 Discussion Watch the video from Karl McDonnell, CEO of Strategic Education, Inc., What Do You Consider to Be Your Biggest Professional Accomplishment?Share your biggest professional accomplishment to date and explain what prepared you for this accomplishment.Business EthicsWeek 8 Discussion This week we are covering materials in Chapter 9, pages 326–360, regarding workplace environment. Privacy is an important part of our daily lives. For example, as a student you should be aware of the Family Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which is a federal law protecting school records. Another well known federal privacy act, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), protects your health information. It is obvious that a large number of individuals take for granted that their personal information will be safe and secure when doing business with small or large companies. However, over the past five years, security breaches have become a common occurrence.There are rules and regulations that keep employee records, such as social security numbers, work evaluations and other pertinent information secure. All of these rules and regulations tend to benefit the employee or individual, but what about the company?Let’s think for a moment about that. Should a company, regardless of size, be able to impose on its employees or customers policies regarding company privacy? Should a company have the right to regulate its employees' activities on their off-the-clock time? Can an employee be held accountable for misrepresenting their employer on their personal social media accounts?Your discussion post for this week is to provide your own opinion on the following questions.In today’s technologically advanced society, is there really privacy? Based on your own personal experiences with social media (Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram, or Snapchat), do you feel that individuals should be held accountable for their actions outside of the workplace?Is it possible that, due to the technological advances in smart phones, tablets, and other communication devices, workplace and personal privacy have meshed together to a point that what was once personal space is now fair game in the hiring and firing practices?Be sure to respond to at least one of your classmates’ posts.To receive full credit, remember to write 2 posts in the discussion: one original and one response to another student. Your original should be at least 7 sentences, and your reply should be at least 4 sentences.Week 9 DiscussionOrganizational health, ethics,  and culture are the topics of the week. For this week's discussion, respond to the following:What obligations do you feel companies have to employees and employees have to a company in terms of loyalty? Explain your answer.Be sure to respond to at least one of your classmates’ posts.To receive full credit, remember to write 2 posts in the discussion: one original and one response to another student. Your original should be at least 7 sentences, and your reply should be at least 4 sentences.Week 10 Discussion Job discrimination (Chapter 11, pages 401-433), is the topic for this week. We will explore areas such as disparity, affirmative action policies, bias wage systems, hostile work environments, sexual harassment, and many other job discrimination topics.For this week's discussion, I want you to think about the concept of comparable work for comparable pay. Most companies provide a job description that details the work involved for the positions, the expected experience and education needed to properly do the work, as well as the physical abilities needed to hold the positions.

The applicant is well aware of the requirements needed and makes the decision to submit an application, cover letter, and resume.Now here is where I would like your opinion on the hiring process and the determination of the wages to possibly avoid wage discrimination based on gender.Respond to the following:Post a discussion based on the following question. You might be familiar with how the television show The Voice works. The judges do not see the singer until they hear the singer and make the choice to accept the person onto their team. Do you think if all of the names were removed from all the application documents prior to presentation for candidate selection, and a set wage assigned before a face-to-face interview is held, that it would help to reduce the gender disparity in wages, as the potential for gender identity is not disclosed prior to interview selection? Explain your answer.Be sure to respond to at least one of your classmates' posts.To receive full credit, remember to write 2 posts in the discussion: one original and one response to another student. Your original should be at least 7 sentences, and your reply should be at least 4 sentences.

[drgreg]

Sa Medical Pages: Sa Medical Portal, Directory South Africa

The Wakkerstroom birding space has many excellently trained bird guides. The monthly Birding journal has very informative articles supported by wonderful high quality pictures of birds in Southern Africa. We would take pleasure in returning to Wakkerstroom to search out different birds we did not see when beforehand visiting the realm. What a superb initiative to boost consciousness of Southern African fowl and marine life, the necessity for conservation and restoration of eco methods. Having raised in excess of R3 million in funds and being a world first voyage into this part of the Southern Ocean makes this a big conservation activity to be recognized..

For occasion, CMS might contract with a data answer companion, and all states will be allowed to access that information partnership, rather than trying to construct their own options. Ethical requirements for amassing and using information could have paved the way for the adoption and use of interoperable knowledge techniques. The US federal authorities could have revised the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act to enable data-sharing while additionally defending patient privacy. As a result, Medicaid beneficiaries will obtain care tailor-made to their particular risk factors. This database will assist improve the standard of care by offering a more holistic view of the patient, reducing inefficiencies and administrative burdens, and aligning monetary incentives. Racquel is a 32-year-old Medicaid beneficiary who's on maternity go away from her job and residential alone together with her new child most of the day.

An superb and unique birding adventure which supported conservation. It was an superior journey with MSC Cruises and am so glad to have had the chance to do a bit for conservation and having a new found love. People journey 1000's of miles to see these dr greg hough south africa particular species of birds. Birdlife SA is a significant contributor to learn SA Tourism. It just isn't the massive ones who need recognition right now, however the small obes, the birds.

Representatives from Kingswood College as well as the Old Kingswoodian Club laid wreaths in remembrance through the parade. Remembrance Day serves to commemorate all those who have died in battle dr greg hough south africa within the service of freedom. Matthew Pritchard receives an Honours Award for Rugby. Mabogoame Gabaraane receives an Honours Awards for Basketball. Luke Kelly receives an Honours Award for Squash.

I am devastated at your passing and am thinking of all the family and wishing them lengthy life. Rest in peace my boss and good friend. Only heard of your passing right now. To my dearest dad and granpa, we really miss you and at all times speak abo .....

A distinctive and unforgettable expertise. Being able to experience that remote and barely visited region, observe unimaginable wildlife, and contribute to its future protection and conservation, made this essentially the most wonderful trip. A once in a lifetime trip and a dream come true to experience many of the unbelievable life within the southern ocean.

We wish you lengthy and good life. I booked this Birdlife once-in-lifetime cruise to Marion Island 2 years ahead. Then with Covid lockdowns etc I never thought the journey would really take place.

[emailencryption]

HIPAA Compliant Emails

How to Make Your Emails HIPAA-Compliant

Enacted in 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA is gold standard for protecting sensitive patient data. And any business dealing with protected health information (PHI) must ensure that the required security measures are implemented and followed. This includes all the communications related to electronically protected health information (ePHI), which makes HIPAA compliance for emails an imperative.

Of course, this isn’t just a plain directive. HIPAA violations over the years have skyrocketed. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in the U.S. reported an average of 59 data breaches each month in 2021 with healthcare data breaches itself numbering up to 712 between January 1 and December 31. The penalties have also been solid, with the OCR reportedly receiving $777, 150 as settlements in 2021.

For any healthcare organization dealing with ePHI, the ability to secure and track communications is crucial. But there is a lot of confusion when it comes to complying with HIPAA guidelines. Let’s dig deeper into the situations that demand HIPAA compliance.

When Should You Comply with HIPAA?

Healthcare organizations share a lot of confidential medical information via emails in messages and as attachments. HIPAA mandates the protection of such ePHI both at rest and in transit. Here are a couple of situations where this is applicable.

Every time your email travels from one network to another, i.e., every time it’s in transit.

While sitting on your or your recipients’ servers and local workstations/devices, i.e., every time it’s at rest.

If the ePHI is within the body text or as part of an attachment.

Emails sent to your own secure server with remote access from your work laptop.

Emails sent to your own secure server from your personal email on your home computer to your work email.

Mass emailers with ePHI; for example, as a part of some campaign.

Replying to an unencrypted email.

Therapists replying to a patient.

These are only a couple of scenarios from a long list of HIPAA email compliance for healthcare organizations. A lot of organizations are using cloud-based servers these days to digitize their processes and sharing a lot of information, including ePHI over the cloud. While sharing information over the cloud is definitely much faster and simpler, steps must be taken to protect the confidential information.

If you must use an online email service, ensure you sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with the provider. BAA is a written arrangement that specifies each party’s responsibilities when it comes to PHI. Two of the most popular email service providers - Microsoft and Google – have BAAs in place. However, the BAA typically only covers the servers; you as an organization would be responsible for protecting the rest of the email chain.

What Makes Your Email HIPAA Compliant?

The obvious answer – email encryption. However, as technologies advance and threats get ever more sophisticated, encrypting email for privacy compliance is not getting simpler. Email or cyber security jargon like transport layer security (TLS) are thrown around like a catch phrase. But, “Not all TLS is created equal. Not all email one thinks is going by TLS, in fact is transmitted securely,” says Steve Anderson, an insurance technology expert. The devil is in the details.

Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol that provides end-to-end data encryption between applications over the Internet. It is mainly used when you communicate from your web browser to a web server. It’s simple for the browser to display “insecure” connections, pop-up warnings, or disable a page display.

But, with email, there are some typical challenges. For instance, when you log-in to Gmail via Chrome or any other browser, the connection from your device to the Google email server is generally secure. But what happens to the email after you hit the send button, when it leaves Google’s Gmail server onward to the recipient?

This is where “opportunistic encryption” may or may not be used by some email providers. In simple terms, it means the email provider tries to send the email first with a secure TLS email transmission (SMTP) if the “opportunity” presents itself. If the message can’t be sent securely, it reverts to less secure or insecure transmission, automatic, and invisibly.

The Gmail transparency report says 88 to 91% of inbound and outbound email to and from Gmail are sent using TLS. This means, typically, more than 10% is sent and received without any security. The scenario isn’t much different with Office 365 hosted emails. And, it gets worse. None of these transparency reports make any distinction between the many TLS connections, which may or may not be secure. Generally, there are versions with varying security; TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, TLS 1.2, and now TLS 1.3, with TLS 1.0 typically accounting for 15% of transmissions.

If you need to take simple calculations into account, let’s consider an organization sending out 500 emails daily. Out of this, it’s quite possible that about 50 randomly-selected messages (and its attachments) would be transmitted without any encryption, while about 75 other randomly-selected messages will be sent with insecure TLS (like 1.0). This poses severe risks of falling out of compliance and being subject to litigation and fines.

This is a big problem when sharing sensitive information such as ePHI. It’s here where RMail, the award-wining email security solution from RPost, can help with its auto-fallback capability. Its technology is well positioned to satisfy HIPAA rules and technical safeguard provisions regarding the preservation and secure transmission of ePHI. RMail sends messages using its end-to-end encryption service, and doesn’t store ePHI on the company’s central server.

For more information: https://rmail.com/learn/hipaa-compliant-emails

[mobappdevelopmentcompany]

Top 5 Factors to Consider While developing a Healthcare App

Evolution in the healthcare sector has picked up the pace. Doctors and other medical experts are adopting new technological developments to attract more customers. Such advancement has given birth to healthcare apps which are quite trending in today's era. Such apps are expected to touch a figure of 50k by 2025, around 10 times more than expected in 2019. Through such apps, it becomes easy for health care experts to make healthy relations with their patients. 

Let's look at some of the eye-opening facts about healthcare app development:

60% of mobile customers use healthcare mobile apps from their phones

As per Statista, the mhealth market is expected to touch $100 bn by 2022.

The online fitness app will reach $14.46 bn by 2022.

Currently, 350k healthcare apps are available worldwide from various app stores.

What is mhealth?

Through mhealth apps, patients can avail of medical services through mobile devices. It allows telecommunication applications and multimedia technologies to deliver health information, health care services, and research. Mhealth has become a buzzword in the current era. Through such apps, patients can identify the symptoms and can know whether medical treatment is required or not.

Through mhealth apps, doctors can track patients' conditions, let them know about health information, and even diagnose minor conditions. Because of such tremendous popularity of apps, many healthcare app development services are flourishing worldwide.

First, you need to know the important envoys to make your app successful. The healthcare app development typically inaugurates with an affluent understanding of what you want from your medical app, for whom you are making it, and where it will be going.

Some factors should be taken care of during the development of healthcare apps. So let's take a deep dive and learn about such aspects.

Top 5 Factors to Consider While developing a Healthcare App

Patient privacy

No one can compromise privacy regarding patients' information through healthcare apps. For instance, USA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) says that no health care app can disclose the protected health information of a patient to anyone. This implies that patient information like name, address, health records, financial records, and other records will be kept secret. Thus all health care apps should provide the facility like password protection, data encryption, digital signatures, limited access, and other security measures to the patients.

Know the audience

Never assume anything about what customers want from the app. Healthcare app developers need to research what people will look for in the app. While making an app, you need to consider the user experience and the technology. A healthcare app should be customer-driven, should think about customer engagement, and there should be an option of satisfaction surveys to let the company know from the customers what is working and what is not working. 

Functional Communication Portal

In some healthcare apps, video calling features are available so that patients can speak directly with doctors or other medical professionals. This increases the app's complexity, which should be addressed properly to retain users' experience

While creating such portals, developers must ensure that patients' information is secure and that UI is easy for the average person. If there are issues in the user interface, it will lead to client dissatisfaction, and he may not use the app in the future.

Simple, sustainable, and scalable designs

Website design is a thoughtful process, and it should be in modules. This will make it easy for developers to modify, upgrade, and put it back in the framework. In addition, Healthcare apps should be simple, and it is better to avoid multiple interfaces in them as this will increase the confusion for patients who may not be technically savvy.

Simplicity is especially important in scheduling platforms and integration with third-party apps, so it will never interfere with the patients' routine. Thus patients will not be compelled to get hands-on with new technology other than the one they are already using.

Functionality test of the app

After app development, healthcare app Development Company in USA should be open to make changes based on their testing team feedback or customer experience. It is important to fix the issues quickly to avoid their frustration to retain customers. Below are some of the aspects that one should check in the app.

Confidentiality: Ensure that all the information entered by the patient is confidential.

Usability: Ensure that the user is happy with the interface.

Compatibility: Ensure that the app works fine on all the platforms like iOS, android, etc.

Over to you!

Overall, there are various aspectthat needs to be taken into consideration while developing a healthcare app. As a developer, you may want to create an error-free app to give a smooth experience to the users. Keep yourself in the shoes of customers before developing the app. This will allow you to know their pain points.

The healthcare app market is growing rapidly. Thus, you must keep many aspects in mind when planning as a developer. First, think about what you want as a developer? For example, you may want to develop an app with minimum error and maximum efficiency. To achieve this, you need to think from the customers' prospects. If you need help in developing a robust and sustainable healthcare app, get in touch with Biz4Solutions, a prominent software development company in healthcare that is known across the globe.

[exactlyshadystrawberry]

HIPAA Compliance and Your Mobile App: What You Need to Know

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, commonly called HIPAA, is a chain of regulatory standards that outline the lawful use and disclosure of blanketed fitness information (PHI). HIPAA compliance is regulated through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and enforced through the manner of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR).  This law, in the end, impacts the way information is stored and shared over technology, including cell apps. Therefore, earlier than embarking on a mobile app venture that involves storing or sharing health information, you want to apprehend what way it relates to HIPAA compliance and mobile app.

When it comes to data HIPAA compliance and mobile app, there are masses of complexities, mostly because of the anomaly around what exactly is considered PHI (covered health statistics). It’s also not so cut-and-dry in phrases of what apps want to be compliant or now not.

HIPAA compliance and mobile app developers

As I stated earlier I want to focus on the complete on technological protections as they exercise to mobile builders, whether they’re developing for a covered entity or a BA. I’ve created a five-item checklist to guide developers as they construct a mobile app that could fall in-scope for HIPAA. The nuances of HIPAA can get tricky, so make certain you seek advice from an expert. Taking these items below consideration will in no way assure compliance.

Understand your role and responsibility

The safety necessities for a healthcare app ought to be defined and structure reviewed with the useful resource of a qualified protection specialist. Regular app developers should not be expected to be HIPAA or protection experts.

If you’re the product owner, take time to think about your use case for the app. Considering what information will be handled and saved and where especially it will probably be stored is prime if whilst you are handling PHI.

Alleviate exposure or risks

Prevent the app from storing statistics that could be in any other case irrelevant. E.G.: if the service you provide does not require the patients’ residential address, you would probably as well no longer ask for it.

Specify a written Privacy coverage for the mHealth mobile application.

One of the simplest (however unheeded) factors of strengthening your PHI safety is to not store information at all. Avoiding caching PHI spells extra potent protection solutions

Before choosing cloud storage, make sure that the mode of transmission and whether or now not its garage on a cloud deployment is secure and secure. Having a Business Associate Agreement with third-party providers permits too.

Store and transmit data securely

Here is another category in which encryption is a massive factor. This wants to be obvious, right? Unfortunately, Now Secure CTO David Weinstein positioned that 80 percentage of the 200 most popular, unfastened iOS apps determine out of App Transport Security (ATS) — a characteristic that forces cell apps to hook up with back-surrender servers using HTTPS, instead of HTTP, to encrypt statistics in transit.

Given the tools and protocols available these days there is no excuse any longer to enforce them. As referred to in advance, facts need to be encrypted at the same time as saved and when transmitted. This also ensures that the statistics are verified – another critical compliance item – constantly.

Mobile gadgets use some of the different protocols for sending information. Are you sending textual content notifications? SMS and MMS are not encrypted, so make certain they don’t comprise PHI.

Secure your healthcare mobile application

To enhance safety, mHealth apps ought to characteristic consultation timeout in case of prolonged idle time. This facilitates it to automatically sign off after a specified period of inactivity.

Push notifications are usually stated as weak hyperlinks to an application. As a HIPAA compliance and mobile app developer, you need to make sure that the ePHI isn’t always sent via push notifications.

Vigilance is of top importance as information leaks can arise anytime. Covering loose ends like backups and log files is a should. Even memory playing cards in Android phones aren’t secured and thus may be susceptible to hacks.

Validate your protection

The first-rate real surefire way to evaluate the safety of a mobile app is through dynamic and static application protection testing. The technology exists that let you do a number of this yourself, but if you’re not an expert, you should do not forget hiring a third party to carry out a penetration check of the app

What is needed for HIPAA compliance?

Self-Audits 

HIPAA requires protected entities and commercial organization pals to behavior annual audits of their organization to assess Administrative, Technical, and Physical gaps in compliance with HIPAA Privacy and Security standards.

Remediation plans

Once protected entities and commercial organization friends have diagnosed their gaps in compliance thru the ones self-audits, they ought to implement remediation plans to opposite compliance violations.

Policies, procedures, employee training 

Annual body of workers training on those Policies and Procedures is needed, at the facet of documented worker attestation stating that staff has studied and understood every of the organization’s rules and procedures.

Documentation 

HIPAA-beholden groups ought to report ALL efforts they take to come to be HIPAA compliant. This documentation is vital throughout a HIPAA investigation with HHS OCR to bypass strict HIPAA audits.

Business associate management 

Covered entities and business buddies alike want to document all agencies with whom they proportion PHI in any way and execute Business Associate Agreements to make sure PHI is treated securely and mitigate liability. BAAs must be reviewed yearly to account for changes to the individual of organizational relationships with organizations.

Incident management  

If a covered entity or organization associate has a facts breach, they have to have a process to record the breach and notify patients that their statistics have been compromised following the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule.

Conclusion

I hope may this blog will give you clear-cut knowledge about HIPAA compliance and mobile app.

[stuckinapatriarchalbullshitland]

🌹 - ɟ

Hiii babies and dear Anons 👋🏼🤗 You know how it works by now. These are the answers to the asks Mari/Stuck sent me. And happy Valentine’s Day to you all!! 🌹🌹 Enjoy 🙃

 A lot of people have been interested in them, dear Anon. From managers, to publicists, to sponsors, partnerships, producers, etc., etc. and no, it was never a problem between them. That’s part of their job.

 No, dear Anon. Camila and Ashlee are best friends. Ash ships/ped Camren. She has helped them a lot of times. I know why you thought this. Just as I know it may seem that Ash takes advantage of Camila because she created a lot of videos with her, made two songs about her, and brings her up at every opportunity, but it’s not what it seems. Do you have any idea how hard it is to try to emerge as an artist in that world? Do you have any idea how many artists there are out there that you’ll never hear about because they’ll never make it to the top? Why do you know Ashlee? Thanks to 5H. Without having been their guitarist, you wouldn’t even know she existed. The fans that Juno has, are Harmonizers/Camilizers and some that she managed to make herself afterwards.

Ash is a real friend to our Mila. She has helped her more times than we could ever know, even by leaving the tour to help her friend. And Camila’s the same for her. Did you know that on June 13, 2020, in the face of the Black Lives Matter Movement she helped Ashlee sponsor a free scholarship for 20 black students to participate in the JUNO’s Guitar Bootcamp to help them create more opportunities in that field in their future? [Diana Foster, who I believe is her girlfriend or a great friend of hers anyway, also helped] Why on earth would Camila willingly help someone who ‘presumably’ would be taking advantage of her friendship? May I suggest you go watch one of the last videos they have together in Camila’s backstage? It dates back to 2019. Go watch it, dear Anon, and tell me if you don’t get an automatic smile on your lips.

 Forgive me, Anon, with all due respect speaking, but what are you saying? “Camila has made mistakes (she has not been the best girlfriend possible)?” Are you for real? What are you talking about? Camila made her mistakes, but so did Lauren. So why are you only pointing the finger at Camila? Did you pay attention to their story? Did you hear/see what Lauren said on the podcast? Have you ever listened to their songs WELL? Because apparently, you didn’t. A couple is made up of two people and mistakes are made by two, not just by one.

 No, dear Anon. Closer was never a song of hers in the first place, let alone one she could sell. The Chainsmokers wanted her in the song. She recorded a rough demo for them and then turned it down. I know that when she turned it down and they passed it on to Halsey, she wrote and contributed to some of the lyrics (she appears as a songwriter in the credits), so I believe she wrote those in the place of the ones Mila wrote in her version, but I’m not sure. I don’t know if Camila had the time to write her part like Ashley (Halsey) did, or if she directly recorded the demo as she did with The Middle. Until it’s leaked, we won’t have an answer.

The fact is that Closer was simply a project that was proposed to her when she was still in 5H and that she turned down because 7/27 was about to come out. Just as she declined to participate in Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood music video for them (5H). And I still wonder how the haters still consider her a bitch 🙄🙄

 Ligas, or hair bands, or también se dice colitas, verdad? Or hair ties as I like to call them, were originally Lauren’s. Lauren had two on her wrist at X-Factor and then, magically, one ended up on Camila’s wrist. I personally think that was their first symbol, but of friendship. And no, dear Anon, they didn’t replace the rings. The rings didn’t yet exist at that time. If the rings were one of their symbols of love, the hair ties were symbols of friendship, at least in the beginning.

P.S. dear Anon, I would like that as soon as you finish reading this post, you’d type ‘garters’ on Google and click directly on images 🤣 I really, REALLY, love you for this, believe me 😉❤️

 I watched all the interviews held in Spain in 2015 and you can see the differences, dear Anon. The two interviews with Revista Bravo and the one with Vodafone Yu are more or less normal. There’s tension between all of them because the big mess had recently happened. But in Alyson’s one with NSP PROJECTS and the one with LOS40 in which Alyson is in as well… Gosh… Your second question is my answer, dear Anon. Yes, they broke up, but that was even before they went to Europe.

As for your last question, on the one hand, I think she was single, attracted to the interviewer, and that she didn’t have to be accountable to anyone because being single, she could do whatever she wanted. But on the other hand, I think it may have been done on purpose for revenge since they’ve always played these jealousy games. I don’t think she managed to control herself though. It shows in both of those interviews, although it’s much more evident in the one with NSP PROJECTS. I don’t think she really realized the gravity of what she was doing because she was too wrapped up in Alyson and too busy in impressed her than everything else. I don’t think she noticed, at least not during the interviews, how hurt Lauren was.

I don’t want to tell you yes or no if her behavior was correct or not, simply because I don’t know if she did it because as I said she was single and didn’t have to answer to anyone, or if she did it out of revenge because she wanted Laur to be jealous. My instinctive response would be that it wasn’t corrected because of the effect it had on Laur who was also going through the dark diary period, but I don’t really know why Mila did what she did. She may have had her reasons, and maybe knowing them, my answer would be different, or the same. I don’t know because I don’t know the reasons behind this. Lauren has done a lot of things in the past that have hurt Camila, and Camila has done a lot of things in the past that have hurt Lauren. They’ve hurt each other many times. Sometimes on purpose and sometimes not. So I prefer to abstain because, at least in this case, I don’t feel like judging something I don’t know. Much less point the finger.

 Hi @ camilalauren0327 😄👋🏼 yeah, writing is therapeutic for them, as it is for many other people, myself included. Dancing was for me as well. Many people find it therapeutic to play sports, others find it in various forms of art, etc., etc.

I don’t know if Camren did couples therapy 🤷🏻‍♀‍ I think if they really did it, they did it after 5H.

Doctors of all kinds, and therefore also psychologists, consultants, therapists, psychiatrists, etc. are bound by the federal law HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Many therapists themselves indeed, prefer to establish confidentiality limits even before starting therapy. For example, the fact that they’re required to maintain therapy content is established regardless, but with you, they can determine who they can contact with your written permission, or if they can’t contact anyone. If YOU client prefer it, you can also establish that outside those four walls, you’re not really in therapy and that therefore if you meet your therapist in a supermarket, for example, they’ll pretend not to know you and will not acknowledge you at all in order to protect your client-therapist confidentiality. So, at the end of the day, it really depends on you and what you establish with your therapist.

This, however, is sometimes not enough for celebrities. Those who really, but really care about privacy and don’t want to take risks, require their therapist to also sign an NDA as a backup and reinforcement plan, so that it covers everything, including sections that HIPAA doesn’t administer.

Both, dear @camilalauren0327, and hi again 👋🏼😊 In the Consequences video and on the day of Say You Won’t Let Go she was paying tribute to Lauren and to the old Camila. For Consequences, that was one of the many symbols we find in the video that served as a clue. For Say You Won’t Let Go it was yes a tribute to Lauren and to old Camila, but it was more of a message for her. The song was for her, the bow was for her, and the rose on her pants was for her. It was like: “Hey, I’m still here. I’m still me. See the bow? See the rose? The song? It’s all for you. The title of the song already speaks for itself. Let’s try again”. That was indeed still the period of rapprochement between them. As for the other times she wore it, and I remember that she even wore it around her neck on more than one occasion, it was for style.

 Sure thing, dear Anon 🙃 Curious is a song discarded from the album Camila, and I don’t know if you’ll like my interpretation, dear Anon, because this song is not about Lauren (for me).

Verse 1

“I lose myself when you start talkin’

There’s something riveting about you, it’s got me confused”

Camila finds this girl so fascinating, that not only does she gets lost when she talks, but it also makes her confused. Confused because she didn’t think another girl could have this effect on her while her mind was always on Lauren. And yes, girl. It’s not the first time that Camila has had to mask this in her songs.

“If we went back to your apartment

Would you be a gentleman and a bad boy too?”

She’s provocative here. She’s literally provoking and teasing the girl: “Could you be sweet and at the same time rough enough to slamming me against the wall?” If you know what I mean…

Pre-Chorus

“I know you think, I’m innocent

Little do you know where my mind has been?”

When you see Camila in videos and interviews, you’re hit by her energy 80% of the time. She’s this cute and goofy and clumsy and dorky ball of bubbly energy that cracks a smile from you all the time. She’s funny with her lame jokes that however always make you laugh, and most of the time, you see her in this innocent light. And it’s true. She looks like this innocent little bean that must be protected at all costs. But we also know that she’s far from innocent. And here, that’s what she’s telling the girl: “If you knew what I’ve been thinking about you, about us, about what I want to happen, you’d understand that I’m not that innocent after all.”

“I don’t have much experience

Could you relieve me of my ignorance?”

The only sexual experience Camila had had up to that point, had been with Lauren. So unlike this girl, Camila had only had one partner, and she’s telling her just that: “I don’t have much experience as you do. Could you help me out?”

“It’s true (It’s true, it’s true)

Been wondering about you”

Here she’s basically questioning whether the expectation equals the reality.

Chorus

“I’m just cu—, I’m just curious

What you do, just got the two of us

Hit me down, take me up

Can you teach me how to love?

I’m just curious”

She’s telling her that what they do in private between them, will stay between the two of them. And then… Ahem-Ahem! *Throat clearing* I’m really trying to hold back as much as possible here guys… If I hadn’t received complaints in the past about some of the answers I gave in other posts, I wouldn’t have had any kind of problem explaining exactly what she says sentence by sentence, but I’ll just limit myself by saying that she’s asking her to teach her to be more expert on the subject matter.

Post-Chorus

“Dum, dum-dum-dum

You got me feeling

Dum, dum-dum-dum

You got me feeling”

This girl makes her feel in a certain type of way that Camila herself refrains from saying what she really wants to say. Still if you know what I mean…

Verse 2

“I’m kinda nervous but I like it (Yeah)”

Because it’s a good kind of nervous. An exciting kind of nervous.

“Will you live up to the image that I got of you?”

Again. As I said before, she’s basically asking if the expectation equals the reality.

“You’re not usually my type, yeah

I think that that might be the reason that I’m here with you (Oh, oh)”

And this, speaks for itself. Who’s Camila’s type? With whom is she making the comparison? Who does she have in mind to justify her actions? She’s there with this girl because her type is who?

Before I wrap up, I want to explain to you why this song has nothing of Lauren for me. So I’m going to rewrite some pieces of the song to debunk it’s about Lauren.

“If we went back to your apartment”

Lauren didn’t have an apartment yet. She wasn’t living alone yet. 5H had two apartments that they shared together in the months of recording, and for the rest, they lived constantly in hotels. This girl (older than her) had an apartment.

“I know you think, I’m innocent”

Lauren and Camila had already had sex. Hello? Since the Like Friends Do situation. So she’s not talking about Lauren because she already knew Camila wasn’t innocent.

“I don’t have much experience”

Again. Experience she’d precisely had with Laur.

“Been wondering about you”

She had to wonder about Lauren if she had already been with her sexually? What would have been the sense?

“What you do, just got the two of us”

If she was really talking about Lauren, this would’ve been a big bullshit because there were people who knew about them. The ones closest to them for sure. Like DNA. DNA knew about them right from the start and lived their story basically along with them. Not to mention that they heard them on more than one occasion. Hell, even we heard them thanks to that takeover.

“You’re not usually my type”

Definitely not Lauren! Isn’t Lauren Camila’s type? In which universe?

“I think that that might be the reason that I’m here with you”

Exactly! This girl, whether it was physically or of character, wasn’t like Lauren.

Aaand these are the reasons why I’m 100% sure this song is not about Lauren, dear Anon.

 Of course I can, dear Anon 😄

Cleopatra is a song discarded from the album Camila, and created during The Hurting. The Healing. The Loving. era. C ended Something’s Gotta Give in mid-March 2017 and we know it was the last song of The Hurting. The Healing. The Loving. era before the album name changed to Camila, so Cleopatra was finished before that.

Verse

“Ridin’ ‘round town in the backseat

Looking like the real deal

Looking real, real, real

Spent so long cuttin’ my teeth

Thought you were the real deal

But it wasn’t real, real, real, uh”

Camila is in the back of a car and, you know how sometimes you find yourself spacing out and thinking about something in those moments? Maybe by looking out the window but not really looking because you’re thinking about that something? It can be something trivial or something important, and in Camila’s case, in this case specifically, she’s overthinking about her relationship with Lauren. They had clearly broken up, and Camila is thinking about how she believed L was the real deal.

With ‘cuttin’ my teeth’ she used a slang to indicate that she learned something early in her life. The slang of cut my/your/her/his/their teeth was born in reference to the exit of the teeth from a baby’s gums and consequently indicates a first experience. So, here she means that she spent too much time learning the ropes believing for real that Lauren was for her, and then realize that she wasn’t.

[Don’t be discouraged and keep in mind that in this case, they were passing thoughts because she was definitely angry, bitter, and sad. We all are after a fight or a breakup with a partner. Besides, we all know that L is the love of her life. Think of songs like Never Be the Same (It’s you, babe), All These Years ('Cause after all these years, I still feel everything when you are near), Taxy (The greatest love story that’s never been told), and many others up to one of the ‘most recent’ ones: Anyone (You are the only one I’ll ever love) 😉]

Pre-Chorus

“Every night it was a different fight

It was a different girl

It was a different lie, ooh-ooh

Every night it was a different fight

It was a different girl

It was a different lie, ooh”

Aaaand back at it again with their communication problems. Even if she has generalized a lot here, she still makes us understand the essence of the problem.

Chorus

“I think I kinda wanna cut my hair like I’m

I’m Cleopatra”

When people move on or try to move on after a breakup, what do they usually do? They look for a change. They want to separate themselves from their past selves, of the ones they were when they were in a relationship with the person they broke up with, and they seek a change, aka self-improvement. Most of the time visual, and therefore physical. This change is seen as a new beginning, a new chapter in their life where they want to feel good again. They want to feel attractive. And this is how self-innovation begins. Some go on a diet, others change their style and wardrobe, and then there’s what many see as a rite of passage: a new haircut.

Camila in this case used Cleopatra’s cut as a metaphor for the change she wanted to make about herself. Cleopatra is one of the most famous known queens in the world. Strong, intelligent, powerful, and that radiates charm in everyone since ever. But Camila isn’t talking about Cleopatra the person. She’s talking about her haircut. Cleopatra’s cut in this case is a symbol of power and freedom for Camila. Remember how I said earlier that Camila finished Something’s Gotta Give in mid-March and that she finished this song before that? Well, although this song talks about 2015, it was made in 2017. And guess what happened in that same period? Camila cut her hair by getting bangs. To be precise, it happened on March 31, 2017 (picture + caption: “joined the bang club now”). Coincidence? Yeah, sure, I don’t think so. Plus, although she used it as a metaphor, Camila has actually always wanted a Cleopatra cut, thing that, if you think about it, she now has for real. [Oh, oh and, rumor has it that Cleopatra was bisexual as was 100% Julius Caesar🤫🤭]

“Wanna dance on cars

And forget it all after

Skip these sad love songs cause I

Need something faster and now baby

Kinda think I’m ready”

The freedom I was saying before? (Cleopatra’s cut in this case is a symbol of power and freedom for Camila) She talks about it here. She used the wanting to dance on cars and the skipping sad love songs as figurative expressions of the freedom she wanted to feel, and that she wanted to feel fast because there was gonna be no crying in the club this time. 🤣🤣🤣 Sorry, dear Anon, I had to 😝 No but, seriously though. She just wanted to shed the past and move on right away because she was ready. And she was also ready for the power part I referred to earlier that she explains here:

Post-Chorus

“Needed to be all eyes on me

Baby all eyes on me, ooh

That’s what I want

Needed to be all eyes on me

Baby all eyes on me, ooh

That’s what I want, yeah”

Now. Now, now, now, now, now, now, now. We have a double interpretation here. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: Camila is a fucking genius. And being the fucking genius lyricist that she is, she used a double meaning here to let everyone interpret this part as they please. The double interpretation is so well hidden, that people who listen to this song without knowing the details, such as for example knowing something about Camila’s life or the year the song was made, would never know because they wouldn’t even notice.

The first interpretation ties into what she says about wanting to dance on cars in the chorus. That’s also a way of saying she just wants to dance thoughtlessly and have fun, but on cars? It’s a metaphor to say that she wants to do it by drawing everyone’s attention. I want you to picture something now, okay? Picture a party with a bunch of people dancing and drinking, and in the midst of the fun, someone climbs on the hood of a car or a counter or any other high surface to keep dancing. Can you picture what would happen at that moment? Can you picture how all the people there would turn to look at that person and shout, clap, and cheer them on? Now picture the same scenario with a person still climbing on something high, but to announce something. It’s the same thing. It’s the same purpose. Getting on top, getting on top of something, is to automatically draw attention. So the connection that leads us to the first interpretation is: Wanna dance on cars - Needed to be all eyes on me.

The second interpretation, on the other hand, is basically the same as regards wanting attention on her, but with another direction and another chorus sentence. Camila is a singer. She’s a performer. She LOVES to perform. She LOVES the excitement, the adrenaline rush, the anxiety, the nerves, the pressure, and the feeling of shitting herself before entering a stage. She LOVES the almost blinding stage lights, the screams, the cheers, the applause, and all the love from the fans. She LOVES mastering the stage, interacting with the audience, and delivering a show. She sings her heart out and LOVES it when the audience sings back to her. She has so much passion and she’s so fucking good at what she does. Why am I saying all this? Because with this hidden interpretation, Mila refers to her solo debut. Like I said, this song was made in 2017, remember? So the connection that leads us to the second interpretation is: Now baby, kinda think I’m ready - Needed to be all eyes on me. Ready for her debut.

Both indicate the attention and power (feeling of power) that I mentioned earlier that comes with it.

Bridge

“See, see

You right to be that

You bein’, you needin’

See, see

You right to be that

You bein’, you needin'”

This part is cryptic. Since they broke up here, I think she’s just saying that it’s okay. That it’s okay for Lauren to be the way she is and that it’s okay if they’re letting each other go (Yeah, sure, Jan 🤣). No hard feelings. Or at least, that’s my interpretation.

—

Before concluding this post, I’d like to make amends. My friend, the same one I ‘roasted’ in my last post (📄 - ɟ), hey, hi girl 😝 literally shoved her phone in my face a few days ago to show me an ask sent to @emisonme (hi to you too if you’re reading 👋🏼😄) in which I was mentioned. I’d like to apologize to all of you because I made a mistake, although not intentionally. I didn’t know Simon was no longer one of the directors of Simco Limited. I went to check it out and immediately understood why I didn’t know. Because it happened more or less recently (on September 17, 2020) and I hadn’t done a thorough research on the piece of shit since last summer (July) when Syco integrated into Sony.

I got really mad at myself for doing one of the things I hate: giving out wrong information. Camila and Lauren are ‘free’ from Simon, and I put that in quotes because one of the clauses that are in every Simmenthal Cow contract includes not being able to speak ill of him. I’m not kidding. This is a piece of an article from many years ago that is still on the internet today that talks about X Factor contracts: “The contract, which runs for 80 pages, also reportedly states that the rules are enforceable anywhere ‘in the world and solar system’ and that artists may not be critical of the company, ‘including its personnel and, in particular, Simon Cowell’. The contract makes clear no-one can speak badly of X Factor supremo Simon.”

Supremo… Supremo? Like what, the Supreme from American Horror Story (some fans of the series like me here)? Should I start calling him Cordelia? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I could never. I’m sorry Sarah (Paulson) for even giving it the slightest thought, love. I’m deeply ashamed. Sooo, like what? A supremo Super Saiyan (Dragon Ball)? If he clenches his hands into fists and screams, does his hair turn blonde? No, huh? So like what exactly? The supremo asshole? You know what? It doesn’t matter. He’s ridiculous enough per se.

Anyway.  Camren are free I hope completely from Simon, but we don’t know yet if the contract ended along with Simon’s exit or if it’s still standing. We’ll see as soon as one of them releases a new song.

Please accept my sincere apologies, guys 🙏🏼 And thank you @emisonme for giving me a great news, albeit indirectly. You’re a real one 😊

🤸🏻‍♀‍🤸🏻‍♀‍🤸🏻‍♀‍

Aaand I’m done 🙈 I hope I was helpful in this case too. As usual, I’m always available for those who have questions, so feel free to ask 🙃 And as always, I thank Mari for giving me space in her blog and for making this exchange possible, and thanks to you Anons for your asks 🥰

Be kind, to others and to yourselves. Be a good example. Be patient. Be safe and take care of yourselves. Sending you virtual love and hugs 🤗🤗🤗 I love you, babies. Always with love, F ❤️

P.S. who wants to be my virtual Valentine? 🌹 🌹 🌹

____

I have to say sorry to F again because this submission should be posted last night and I couldn’t. Thanks for the long ass post F. 

Another advice, I closed the inbox for anons as you know and I will open it again in a few days when I don’t be too busy. Save your asks for F anyway, anons!

#submission #f anon #long ass post #valentine answers #sorry for the late post #anon #ask #f answers

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Privacy Without Monopoly, EU edition

Tech monopoly apologists insist that there’s something exceptional about tech that makes it so concentrated: “network effects” (when a product gets better because more people use it, like a social media service).

They’re wrong.

Tech is concentrated because the Big Tech companies buy up or crush their nascent competitors — think of Facebook’s predatory acquisition of Instagram, which Zuckerberg admitted (in writing!) was driven by a desire to recapture the users who were leaving FB in droves.

Google’s scale is driven by acquisitions — Search and Gmail are Google’s only successful in-house products. Everything else, from Android to Youtube to their entire ad-tech stack, was once a standalone business that Google captured.

Monopolies extract monopoly rents — like those delivered by Googbook’s crooked ad-tech marketplaces, or Apple/Google’s 30% app shakedown — and use them to maintain their monopolies. Google gives Apple billions every year so it will be the default Ios and Safari search.

These are the same tactics that every monopolist uses — high-stakes moneyball that creates a “kill-zone” around the monopolist’s line of business that only a fool would try to enter. Tech DOES have network effects, but that’s not what’s behind tech monopolies.

We see monopolies in industries from bookselling to eyeglasses, accounting to cheerleading uniforms, pro wrestling to energy, beer to health insurance. These monopolies all follow Big Tech’s template of mobilizing monopoly rents to buy or crush all competition.

The differences between the anticompetitive tactics that monopolized these industries are largely cosmetic — swap out a few details and you might well be describing how John D Rockefeller and Standard Oil monopolized the oil markets in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Big Tech does have network effects, but these are actually a tool that can be used to dismantle monopolies, as well as maintaining them. Network effects are double-edged swords: if a service gets more valuable as users join, it also gets less valuable as users leave.

If you want to understand the anticompetitive structure of the tech industry, you’d be better off analyzing switching costs, not network effects. Switching costs are the things you have to give up when you leave a service behind.

If your customers, community, family members or annotated photos and other memories are locked up in Facebook’s walled garden (or if you’ve got money sunk in proprietary media or apps on Apple’s, etc), then the switching cost is losing access to all of that.

Here’s where tech really is different: tech has intrinsically low switching costs. Latent in all digital technology is the capacity to interoperate, to plug a new service into an old one, to run an old app inside a simulator (“runtime”).

There’s no good technical reason you can’t leave Facebook but take your treasured photos with you — and continue to exchange messages with the people you left behind.

True, Facebook has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep its switching costs high, deploying technical countermeasures to block interoperability. But these aren’t particularly effective. Lots of people have figured out how to reverse-engineer FB and plug new things into it.

Power Ventures created an app that aggregated your FB feed with feeds from rival services, giving you a single dashboard. NYU’s Ad Observer scraps the political ads FB shows you for analysis to check whether FB is enforcing its own paid political disinformation rules.

And there’s a whole constellation of third-party Whatsapp clients that add features FB has decided Whatsapp users don’t deserve, like the ability to block read-receipts or run multiple accounts on the same device.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/african-whatsapp-modders-are-masters-worldwide-adversarial-interoperability

Most of these are technical successes, but they’re often legal failures. FB has used the monopoly rents it extracted to secure radical new laws and new interpretations of existing laws to make these tactics illegal.

Power Ventures was sued into oblivion. Ad Observer is fighting for its life. The Whatsapp mods are still going strong, but that may be down to the jurisdictions where they thrive — sub-Saharan Africa — where FB has less legal muscle.

With low switching costs, much of FB’s monopoly protection evaporates. Lots of people hate FB, and FB knows it. You’re on FB because your friends are there. Your friends are there because you’re there. You’ve taken each other hostage, and FB benefits.

With low switching costs, you could leave FB — but not your friends. The kill zone disappears. All we need is interoperability.

Enter the EU’s Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, proposed regulations to force interop on the biggest Big Tech players.

The EU has recognized that mandating interop can reduce switching costs, and reducing switching costs can weaken monopoly power.

Some critics (like me!) of the EU proposals say they don’t go far enough, asking for “full interop” for rival services.

Against these calls for broader interop come warnings about the privacy implications of forcing FB to open up its servers to rivals. It’s hard enough to keep FB from abusing its users’ privacy, how will we keep track of a constellation of services that can access user data?

Last Feb, Bennett Cyphers and I published “Privacy Without Monopoly,” for EFF, describing how interoperability can enhance privacy.

Interop means that users can choose services that have better privacy policies than Facebook or other incumbent platforms.

https://www.eff.org/wp/interoperability-and-privacy

But in theory, it means that users could choose worse services — services that have worse privacy policies, services that might be able to grab your friends’ data along with your own (say, the pictures you took of them and brought with you, or their private messages to you).

That’s why, in our paper, we say that interop mandates have to be backstopped by privacy rules — democratically accountable rules from lawmakers or regulators, not self-serving “privacy” limitations set by the Big Tech companies themselves.

For example, Facebook aggressively imports your address books when you sign up, to connect you to the people you know (this isn’t always a good experience — say, if your stalker has you in their address book and automatically gets “friended” with you).

If you try to take your address book with you when you quit, FB claims your contact list isn’t “yours” — it belongs to your contacts. To protect their privacy, FB has to block you from exporting the data — making it it much harder to establish social ties on a new service.

It’s not obvious who that contact info “belongs to” (if “belong to” is even the right way to talk about private information that implicates multiple people!).

But what is obvious is that Facebook can’t be trusted to make that call.

Not only has Facebook repeatedly disqualified itself from being trusted to defend its users’ privacy, but it also has a hopeless conflict of interest, because privacy claims can be used to raise switching costs and shore up its monopoly.

In our paper, Bennett and I say that these thorny questions should be resolved democratically, not in a corporate boardroom.

Now, as it happens, there’s a region where 500M people are protected by a broad, democratically enacted privacy law: Europe, home of the GDPR.

Today, in a new appendix to “Privacy Without Monopoly,” EFF has published “The GDPR, Privacy and Monopoly,” my analysis of how the GDPR makes interoperability safer from a privacy perspective.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/06/gdpr-privacy-and-monopoly

Working with EFF’s Christoph Schmon and Bennett Cyphers, we develop a detailed analysis of the GDPR, and describe how the GDPR provides a lawful framework for resolving thorny questions about consent and blended title to data.

The GDPR itself seeks to promote interoperability; it’s right there in Recital 68: “data controllers should be encouraged to develop interoperable formats that enable data portability.” But loopholes in the rules have allowed dominant companies to stymie interop.

For years, Europeans have had the “right” to port their data, but nowhere to port that data to. The DMA closes the loopholes and dismantles the hurdles that kept switching costs high.

The GDPR’s consent/security/minimization framework sets out the parameters for any interoperability, meaning we don’t have to trust Facebook (or Google, or Amazon, or Apple) to decide when interop must be blocked “to defend users’ privacy” (and also shareholders’ profits).

Big Tech platforms already have consent mechanisms (and must continue to build them) to create the legal basis for processing user data. An interoperable FB could be a consent conduit, letting your friends decide when and whether you can take their data to a new service.

And the GDPR (not a tech executive) also determines when a new service meets the privacy standards needed for interop. It governs how that new service must handle user data, and it gives users a way to punish companies that break the rules.

Today, if you leave Facebook, your friends might not even notice. But in a world where FB is a consent conduit to manage your departure and resettlement, all your friends get signals about your departure — perhaps prompting them to consider whether they should go, too.

Far from prohibiting interop, the GDPR enables it, by creating an explicit privacy framework that is consistent across all services, both the old monopolies and the new co-ops, startups, public utilities, and other alternatives that interop would make possible.

Monopolies distort the world in two ways. The most obvious harm is to competition, choking out or buying out every alternative, so you have to live by whatever rules the monopolist sets.

But the other kind of harm is even worse: monopolists can use their political power to get away with terrible abuses.

Ad-tech concentration produced monopoly rents that blocked or weakened privacy law for decades, allowing for a grotesque degree of commercial surveillance.

We don’t want competition in surveillance.

Opening space for interop poses a legitimate risk of creating a contest to see who can violate your human rights most efficiently.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/08/leona-helmsley-was-a-pioneer/#monkeys-paw

Yet, it’s obvious that monopolists themselves shouldn’t get to decide where they should be subjected to competition and where they should be subjected to regulation. That’s a job for democratic institutions, not autocratic board-rooms.

Adding privacy regulation (strong privacy regulation, with a private right of action allowing users to sue companies for breaking the rules) to interop is how we resolve this conundrum, how we make sure we’re banning surveillance, rather than “democratizing” it.

#pluralistic

[alatariel-galadriel]

Correcting the 3 Main HIPAA Misconceptions

(aka I have HIPAA tattooed under my eyelids and I want to make it everyone else’s problem)

The act protecting your health information is HIPAA, not HIPPA. The “Health Information Privacy and Protection Act” flat-out does not exist. (What you’re thinking of is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which does a bunch of stuff regarding insurance on top of protecting your health information. I know it’s pedantic, but this is the most useful thing to see if someone has actually knows what they’re talking about.)

HIPAA protects you from healthcare organizations sharing your information without your consent. Someone asking you to share your own (or someone else’s) health information is rude, but not a HIPAA violation (unless you gained that info during your employment at a healthcare org, but if that’s the case, you already know this. )

There are a lot of exceptions to HIPAA--you health information can be shared your consent in many scenarios. I’ve made a detailed list below the cut, but to correct the biggest misconception: yes, in some scenarios, your health provider may be required to share your information with law enforcement. This is typically mandatory reporting (think child abuse, gunshot wounds, or domestic violence), but your information can also be subpoenaed by a judge or requested by law enforcement.

Here is the government’s webpage breaking down the HIPAA Privacy Rule if you want to know more! I personally think its neat, but that is not everyone’s opinion. Regardless, it’s good information to have at family gatherings when someone starts going off on vaccination requirements.

Detailed breakdown of HIPAA exceptions under the cut:

TPO: This stands for Treatment, Payment and Operations, because if your health info was on complete lockdown, no healthcare entity could function. Employees can access/share your info when the info is necessary for them to...

Provide treatment (ie: your nurse can share your info with your doctor)

 Receive payment (ie: giving info to your insurance company)

Maintain operations (ie: health data/medical records staff. This is me--as a health systems analyst, I can’t do my job without access to the data within the system)

Public Interest: ie: when required by law/governmental function. This includes:

Mandatory reporting (think abuse, neglect, domestic violence, gunshot wounds)

Health oversight activities. These are the organizations who evaluate and investigate whether a facility meets safety/performance regulations and standards. Trust me, you want your info shared with them

 Law Enforcement. I’m going to be really specific here, because there’s been a lot of (justifiable) concern post-Roe v Wade. Your info can be shared if it is is…

Subpoenaed, court ordered, or court-ordered warrant by a court, judge, or administrative tribunal

 Requested by law enforcement to id a suspect, fugitive, witness, or missing person

 Requested by law enforcement for info about a victim/suspected victim of crime

 To alert law enforcement of a person’s death if the organization believes a crime has occurred

If the healthcare organization believes the information is evidence of a crime that occurred on its premises.

In emergency situations, providers can share information about the nature of a crime, the location of crime/victims, and the perpetrator of the crime.

Decedents: Funeral directors, coroners, and medical examiners all need your info to do their jobs, Being deceased, you can’t give your authorization, so an healthcare org sharing your info with them is not a HIPAA violation

Organ/Eye/Tissue donation: pretty self explanatory. Some of your information as a donor might be shared to ensure a healthy transplant  

Research (limited data sets): This one tends to freak people out at first glance, but it’s not sharing your full information. Limited data sets remove any information that could identify/be traced back to you (name, address, etc), but keep details regarding your condition/treatment(s). These can be used to supplement research data sets without your authorization.

Serious threats to health/safety. If a serious, specific threat is made against a person or the public, this can be shared with law enforcement and the person who the threat is made against. There’s a lot of grey area here in what counts as a specific threat, and this can get complicated quickly, but if someone tells a medical professional that they are planning on harming you, you will be notified alongside law enforcement. Likewise for a bomb or other public threat.

Essential government functions. If you are in prison or other correctional facility, you are not protected by HIPAA. Some government benefit programs will require the disclosure of health information. (It also includes national security and military missions).

Worker’s compensation. Healthcare orgs have to share parts of your information for you to receive worker’s comp

I hope this cleared some things up!

#i am going to make my rote memorization of HIPAA everyone else's problem now #anyways my job (and degree) is in health data and health info management so i live and breathe hipaa #which made the pandemic misinformation SO much fun #that is sarcastic. #i was losing my mind #HIPAA #(and though it pains me) #HIPPA #healthcare #healthcare legislation #medical #medical advice #whispers from the ally

[freeposting]

Dr jay Feldman

Dr jay Feldman's Clinical online journals have stepped back the shade on the internal operations of the medical care call. Online peruses can find out with regards to the most recent clinical contraptions, read doctors' perspectives on medical care issues, even get a look at the inward contemplations of specialists. Be that as it may, in spite of their fascination, these web journals have raised worries about security issues on the Web.

Dr jay Feldman goes for a walk through any of the 120,000 medical care websites and you can track down suppositions on everything from well-known drugs to superstar skin issues. There are no exact figures on the number of specialist websites are out there, yet they are not difficult to track down. One blog called "EM Physician" describes a scene of gangsters turning up at the ER with extreme consumption. that activities are "fun," and "Radiology Picture of the Day" shows the scope of terrible conditions from mental illnesses to a bosom embed burst.

Dr jay Feldman talks a lot about primary care because there's a myriad of problems that I as a primary care physician face that I want to communicate to the public. I talk about malpractice and how physicians practice defensive medicine to avoid malpractice lawsuits," says Pho. His daily writings have made him something of a celebrity in the blogosphere.

Dr jay Feldman Online Marketing

Publishing content to a blog can be an extraordinary showcasing instrument for raising a doctor's profile and drawing in new patients, says medical services advertising master 

Dr jay Feldman patients who see doctors who blog understand that these doctors see certainly that patients are eager for data. By giving this data now and then they will turn out to be substantially more trusted by patients since they accept that they will be considerably more responsive,

In any case, not all doctor online journals are intended for showcasing. Truth be told, the exact inverse is by all accounts the case in some very authentic online journals, similar to "White Coat Rants," "Disease Doc" and "M.D.O.D.," which charges itself as "Irregular Thoughts from a Few Cantankerous American Physicians." These are more similar to journals in which specialists vent about repayment rates, troublesome cases, and what a "bummer" it is to have such countless patients bite the dust.

Privacy Issues

Dr jay Feldman, a therapist, and organizer of the gathering Patient Privacy Rights thinks doctors write regularly step excessively near the constraints of patient protection.

Positively in case, a specialist disregards a patient's protection there could be lawful outcomes. Under the government Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, doctors could confront fines or even prison time. In certain states, patients can document a common claim in case they accept a specialist has disregarded their protection. In any case, it's not simply security that gives that inconvenience Peel.

"Assuming you are discontent with individuals that you should serve and dealing with, you most likely need treatment," she says. "You shouldn't vent your disappointments in a public way like that. That is extremely improper and amateurish."

Insight and Entertainment

Dr jay Feldman, creator of a blog called "Wachter's World," clashes. As the main master on persistent security who expounds broadly on clinical mix-ups, he counters, "You may say we as specialists ought to never be discussing encounters with our patients on the web or in books or in articles."

He says doctors should have the option to share cases, as long as they change the realities significantly. However, he says that is one explanation patients shouldn't fully trust all the data on sites.

Dr jay Feldman very much kept up with a blog can assist with driving your training's site to the highest point of the web indexes for chosen catchphrases. Your blog turns into an essential method for drawing in existing patients, just as giving away to new patients to get to know your training.

#Dr jay Feldman

[websthetics]

Stardew Valley, Harvey, and Medical Ethics

Okay okay. It’s 3am and apparently I will not rest until I have written this. As a note: I am writing from the perspective of a person who is related to many doctors and medical professionals (both of my parents, 5 aunts/uncles, and several cousins are doctors specifically) and who has worked in medical offices for a number of years, and who has had to work to differentiate my own healthcare from these personal relationships.

As always when talking about media, the character and the person who wrote the character are two separate considerations. I think the questionable medical ethics of Harvey are due more to being written by a person who does not fully understand the culture of the medical profession, rather than being a conscious choice to make doctor with dubious ethics.

[what follows is 1. judging a video game character by real world measures and 2. also there are spoilers for various heart events in stardew valley]

[EDIT: now that i’m reading this at not 3am I realize that the way I explained all this is a little bit off but I’m too tired to fix it. So disclaimer: don’t take legal or medical advice from randos on social media. This is intended only as media analysis.]

Here is the number one, biggest fucking problem with Harvey: HIPAA violations. If you live in the US, you should know about HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) because it is what keeps your personal medical information, well, personal. It’s incredibly strict and incredibly serious. You are not even allowed to say “this patient comes to my office” because that sort of knowledge is personal and should only be allowed to be disclosed by the patient themself. Working in a medical office, you have to know what you are not allowed to say or you could be sued. (Overall this act is more about electronic medical records and keeping those secure from data breaches BUT the other stuff applies too.)

Let’s start with Harvey’s 2 heart event which takes place in George’s house. I will give him credit that when he notices the farmer is there at a private medical consultation, he says to gtfo. And that George is allowed to choose to let the farmer to stay because it’s his medical appointment and he gets to decide who knows his medical information. BUT Harvey should not let George ask a farmer for a second opinion. The farmer (unless you’ve concocted up a wild backstory for your character that involves going to medical school, residency, et al.) is not a medical professional and is not qualified to give a second opinion. It is illegal for non-medical professionals to give medical advice end of sentence. Harvey, a doctor, should know better and stop this before it happens.

Let’s also talk about Shane’s 6 heart event, where the farmer finds him drunk at the edge of a cliff and then takes him to the hospital. At the “hospital” (side note: small town doctor’s office is not a hospital) Harvey then proceeds to tell random farmer who is Not related to Shane, about Shane’s condition. Sure, the farmer may have brought Shane in but that does not mean that they are entitled to know his condition. They only way that they would Legally be allowed to know about Shane’s medical condition is if Shane consented to this. Harvey treats everybody in town, so he undoubtedly has documentation about who he should call in the case of an emergency. So unless Shane explicitly said ahead of time (because you legally cannot consent to things while under the influence) “you can tell the farmer about my personal medical condition” it’s illegal for Harvey to tell the farmer how Shane is doing.

That is the biggest legal problem, but what I consider to be larger ethical problem is in Harvey’s 4 heart event. The farmer is at the clinic for a check up and he registers their pulse as unusually high. When I saw this I read it as “farmer’s heart rate increased because they’re ~*~attracted~*~ to Harvey”. But regardless of how it is read, I don’t think that a regular check up should be heart event. It’s not indicative of one’s growing closeness, it’s a regular part of life that everyone must do and should not be entwined with personal relationships. Patient/doctor relationships are something that is shockingly frequent in media and frankly, I find it revolting and abhorrent, incredibly unethical and unprofessional. (Growing up in a medical culture, this is my intrinsic reaction. Also most doctors see a ton of patients, they probably don’t even remember you. It’s just incredibly unrealistic on the doctor’s side.) IF Harvey is going to be an eligible bachelor for the farmer, it needs to be entirely separate from his role as a doctor for the community and as their doctor in particular.

Lastly, I have personal distaste for Harvey’s character because it seems like most of his personality revolves around being a doctor. Sure, part of his character arc revolves around his anxiety and being interested in planes. And there are some parts of his doctor-dialog that I find very compelling and realistic, such as his worries about finances and running his business (because, yes, a medical clinic is a business). BUT all of the dialog where he’s like “cover your cough” or “be sure to wear sunscreen” reads as some boring psa that you hear when you’re on hold for your doctor’s office. Actual doctors aren’t like that. They’re real people.

tl;dr: Harvey’s character and role in stardew valley is written in ways that are legally dubious, ethically questionable, and comes across as rather flat.

#stardew valley #sdv #original post #harvey stardew valley

[kylenesusan]

What’s that like: Routine eye exam

I had an idea for a project that I’m going to work on writing. I’m going to call them “What’s that like?”  – it’ll be a description of things that I’ve done that range from the really mundane to the more complex. I got the idea after telling my grandmother and aunt what it’s like to go to the airport and take a flight because they have never, ever flown anywhere and they have no idea what that’s like. And I think that’s something that’s more common that maybe expected, because I ran into the same thing another time, where someone was asking about what something else was like, I think it was a sleep study, because they had one scheduled and didn’t know what to expect and were really anxious about getting ready for it. And I thought, you know, that’s potentially something that could be really interesting to write about, while also possibly being helpful to someone who’s trying to prepare for an experience – either young adults who are doing something on their own for the first time or people who experience some sort of difficulty, like anxiety or a physical handicap, or any number of other people.

To get this started, I’m going to write about going to a route eye exam. And I’m going to put it under a fold because, oh baby, this got long.

First, a disclaimer: 

The information in this post is from the standpoint of a Caucasian cisgender (meaning I identify with the gender I was assigned at birth) woman aged late 30s / early 40s with no children (childfree by choice) living in the southeast region of the United States of America. It is not intended to be used for legal advice of any kind. Other people’s experiences may be vastly different from my own. This is not intended to include all possible experiences in this situation, nor is it intended to exclude any other possible experiences in this situation. This information is presented only as an example of my own experiences. Your experience may be different from my own.

Okay. A little background – I am nearsighted and I don’t even know how long I’ve been going in for eye exams. I think I’ve been wearing contacts since I was 13, when Mom said I was old enough for that responsibility. I was wearing glasses a least a few years before that. My prescription isn’t that severe, but it’s serious enough that I need corrective lenses in order to drive. I wear soft contacts most of the time, but I have glasses and prescription sunglasses for when my contacts aren’t agreeing with my eyes, typically in the spring when my allergies are flaring up.

Justin and I are covered by insurance through my work that covers most of the yearly eye exams and a certain dollar amount to put toward glasses frames, glasses lenses, and contact lenses.

So the framing of this experience is someone who has a slight visual impairment and is covered by pretty decent insurance. I don’t know what it’s like to go to the doctor while having perfect vision or without insurance.

There are a couple terms that you might run into during this process that I’ll go over first because they sound very similar: Optometrist, ophthalmologist, and optician. (Reference: Healthline.com.) Optometrists are most likely the person who will be the doctor at your routine eye appointment. Ophthalmologist is who you would see if you needed surgery. And an optician is someone who works for the eye doctor helping the patients with glasses and stuff – not everybody there will be one, but the person fitting your glasses should be.

Eye doctor appointments should be scheduled ahead of time – there might be some that accept walk-in patients, but my recommendation is to set up an appointment with the office ahead of time. If you have insurance, follow the information from your provider to make sure that the doctor you would like to see is actually covered by your insurance – with my insurance, I can look up local doctor’s offices through the insurance website to check or I can call the insurance and ask someone over the phone to look it up. My eye coverage is separate from my medical coverage, so when contacting my insurance about eye care, I have to contact a different provider than I do for most of my other stuff. Make sure you know who you need to talk with about your eye care insurance coverage, if you have it. And be aware that some providers are specific about the location where the doctor is working – so a doctor could be covered by insurance at one location but that exact same doctor could be considered “out of network” at another location, which will mean that your insurance coverage will be very different. It’s a stupid insurance thing, so make sure to check ahead of time.

I don’t have any advice about finding a good eye doctor other than looking at reviews and asking around to see if anyone has any recommendations about who to go see. What I can say is that if you get to the end of the exam and really didn’t like the doctor or the people working there, you don’t have to go back there again. Just find a different doctor next time and try again. Don’t feel obligated to go back to someone you didn’t like.

Okay, so you’ve found an eye doctor and set up an appointment. You’ve checked with your insurance to make sure that you’re covered to see this doctor at this exact location. And now you’re ready to go to the appointment.

If you have corrective eyewear, you should wear/bring that to your appointment. (Also, I’m not sure why you’d be reading this post because how did you get that without having an eye exam?!)

There is going to be paperwork to fill out – you might get this ahead of time if the doctor’s office sends it or they might send you to their website to find it or you might have to do it when you get their office. You should plan to get there with some extra time before your appointment to give time to complete it. The paperwork will ask about your personal information like your name, address, age, etc. It will also ask for your insurance information. They will probably want a copy of your state ID and your insurance card for their records – they’ll make a scan/photocopy at the office so make sure to have these two cards with you when you get to the office. The paperwork might also include questions about family medical history and payment information and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) release forms. (If you’re not familiar with HIPAA, your health information provided to doctors is protected by law and if you have anyone who you would like the doctor to talk with about your information, the doctor’s office needs a signed form that says that they’re allowed to release that information. More information about HIPAA here. As a side note, please don’t share private health information with groups who are not covered by the HIPAA laws, like something in Ye Olde Book of Faces. They are not required to keep your information private.)

At future appointments, you won’t have as much paperwork to complete. You’ll need to review that the previous information is still accurate and provide updates, but it won’t take so long.

At the office where I got my exam, I kept my paperwork with me instead of handing it back to the person working at the desk. A different person then called me back to a room for pre-exam tests and ask about my current medications and current eyewear. There are a variety of different tests that this person will do and I don’t actually know what all of them are testing. Most of them require not wearing my contacts, so she provided a space for me to wash my hands and remove those. One of the tests was a handheld item (she held it) that puffed little bursts of air into my eyes and made my eyes water a lot. (I think that’s the glaucoma test and this is a whole lot better than the old one where I had to put my face into a thing and wait for the puff to make me jump.) There was another one where I looked into a machine to look at a picture of long road to a balloon that went in and out of focus. Another machine showed a green dot that then flashed bright white light, like a camera flash, first in one eye and then the other. (That one also made my eyes water. I don’t like bright lights.) She had me look at a book and tell her what number was written in all the dots. (I do know that this is a colorblindness test.  Here’s an example.) And then she had me put on 3D glasses and tell her which of the 4 dots in the diamond was standing forward of the others.

She also dilated my pupils by putting in eye drops that would have that effect. She had me look up at the ceiling and she put the drops into my eyes and then told me to blink until it stopped stinging. If you have trouble with your blink reflex being seriously strong, like Justin, then this is tricky – he tends to blink before the drops hit his eye. I think the work-around is to put the drops on the side of his nose where they run into his eye from the side. They do this dilation in order to get a really good look at the inside of your eye to look for a whole bunch of potential problems. It’s annoying, but it’s for your own good. And I do mean it’s annoying. Everything was so bright and I couldn’t focus on anything closer than arm’s length, so reading my phone or a book or a computer screen was completely out of the question. And the drops keep my eyes dilated for several hours – something like 4 to 6 hours. I was able to read before they completely got back to normal, but things were bright and sometimes one pupil was a different size than the other and I looked like I was having a stroke. I definitely would not plan to go back to work or do anything important for the rest of the afternoon.

If you get your eyes dilated, make sure to have sunglasses for the trip home. And it might be helpful to have someone else with you who can see to help with the payments and stuff at the end of the appointment. Justin seems to be able to see better than I am after getting this done, so maybe some people handle this better than others.

The first time coming to this doctor’s office, the person doing these pre-exam tasks also checked the prescription on my glasses so the doctor would have that information. They use a clever little machine that tells them that information, but I have no idea how it works.

After doing these tests, we walked to the exam room. The exam room will have a chair with a stand next to it and it might look intimidating. There are so many tools and machines that are used in eye exams that I haven’t seen anywhere else. It’s okay; you don’t have to know what they do or how they work because you won’t be expected to touch them. And they should always warn you before they use anything.

I was asked to sit in the chair and with a spoon-shaped paddle over one eye, read the letters on the eye chart shown on the wall ahead of me, and then swap and read the letters with the other eye covered. This is just a sort of baseline that was part of the pre-exam testing and once she was satisfied that I could read with both eyes, she excused herself from the room and told me the doctor would be in with me shortly.

I wonder what they do if they find out the person coming in for the eye exam can’t identify letters… Can’t illiterate people get eye exams? Hrm….

Anyway, after a short wait, during which I read the informational posters on the wall and admired my doctor’s wedding photos, she came in and we started the actual exam. She asked if I was experiencing any problems with my eyes or if I had any questions, and since I was good and just needed to get more contacts for the year, we started looking at the eye charts.

Because I wear corrective lenses and she already knows what that prescription is, she had me look at the eye chart on the wall through the big butterfly shaped thing that she placed in front of my face. This has lots of lenses and things so she can swap things around to see which lenses look more clear to me. So, she’ll set it up, and then, with one eye blocked and only looking with the other eye, ask if I like one set of lenses better than the second option. And then, based on the answer that I give, do I like this one better than the next one? And how about this other one? And what’s she’s doing is trying a lot of different lenses to see which of them are the ones that I should use to see. Sometimes the difference between the two options is really easy to say which one is better, but not always. Sometimes, it’s hard to really know – like they’re the same focus, but maybe one is a little smaller? Just be open to say what you’re seeing to the doctor and let them know. They want you to go home with the best possible vision that they can provide and that’s going to depend on your answers to these questions.

As this process was going on, flipping between different lenses, she was asking me to read smaller and smaller letters off the eye chart on the wall ahead of me. And when she got to a point where she was satisfied, she asked me to look one more time, with both eyes open, and make sure that I could still see clearly with both eyes.

My prescription changed very slightly this year, but not a concerning amount. She asked if the contacts I’ve been wearing are still working for me and how frequently I swap them with new ones (to check that I’m disposing of them in the right amount of time – I’m supposed to use new contact lenses every 2 weeks). And then she brought me a new pair to try on to make sure that the prescription would work. She had a sink in the corner where I could wash my hands again before putting them in, and then had me sit on the chair again and, this time without the butterfly-looking thing, read the eye chart to make sure I could still see it, which I could see just fine.

After that, she did a close-up eye exam. And this is why you need to feel comfortable with your eye doctor because they are going to seriously invade your space at this point. She had me put my chin on a little stand so she could look at my eye with a lens that lets her see inside my eye. She asked me to look at her ear and then up and down while she held the lens in front of one eye and then the other. There’s a bright white light stripe on the lens that made my eyes water, but she’s good and quick at this and it didn’t take her very long to check both eyes.

She’s looking for damage to the eye and different diseases that show up in there. She’s also looking to make sure that the contact lenses I’ve just put in are fitting my eyes nicely.

Once she was happy that my eyes are nice and healthy and that my contacts were going to work and updated my information in the computer, she asked if I had any questions or anything else I wanted to ask, and then walked me out to the front of the office, where she thanked me and told the optician what I would be ordering.

Since I’m an established patient at this office, they already know what I use for my contacts, but if I was new, I would have discussed with the doctor the different types of contacts available and the different length of use that are available. I use 2-week contacts, but I have used longer ones and there are options for ones that swap out daily. This length is good for me and I like this brand, so I’m not changing right now. But that is a conversation that would be held with the doctor before putting in the new contacts.

If I was in the market for new glasses, this in the point in the appointment when I’d be looking at the different options for that. There are a lot of frames on the walls of the office that they have available for sale. These are just samples to try on and see if you like how they fit your face. They should have a little price sticker on them, and with our insurance, we get a frame allowance every 2 years up to a certain amount. Anything over that amount comes out of our own pockets.

After trying on a bunch of frames and deciding which pair you’d like, the optician will help select the lenses to put into those frames. There are a lot of options for this, too. If your prescription is really bad (meaning you can’t see for squat) then your lenses might be really thick normally, but you can chose an option that makes them significantly thinner. You can get tinting, anti-glare (I really recommend this option if you work at a computer a lot), anti-scratch, and a bunch of other things, I’m sure. I don’t wear my glasses enough to know what’s available for this. Be aware that each option will increase the amount you pay for your lenses, and our insurance again has a cap of how much they will pay for these. So, you might have to decide to pay out of your own pocket or not choose all the bells and whistles that you’d like.

Also of note for insurance, if I recall correctly, my insurance will either pay for glasses or contacts, but not both. So be aware that you might face limitations there as well.

Once you’ve selected frames and the options for your lenses, they will need to take some measurements of your face to make sure that your glasses will fit your face correctly. And then they will order your glasses. (There might be places where you can walk out that same day with glasses, but I have no idea.) Once your glasses arrive, they will call you in to make sure that they got everything right and the glasses fit and the lenses are right. They can make some tweaks to the fit before sending you home with your new glasses, so let them know if they don’t feel right.

Some offices have better frames selections than others and some frames that you got from one location might not be able to get lenses fit at a different location. The glasses Justin got from the eye doctor in Bluffton couldn’t get lenses fit correctly by the eye doctor here in Savannah. Also, there are a lot of options to buy glasses from online companies, which isn’t something I have experience with yet, but I think Justin’s planning to do that in the near future. He just had to request a copy of his prescription to take home when he left his appointment.

And I think that covers it! Please let me know what you think!