You may have read about the tabloid reporters in the UK who offered to purchase celebrity cosmetic surgery details from an undercover documentary filmmaker. Although the details were made up and the entire scenario was part of a “sting,” the reporters’ interest was very real.
You don’t have to be a celebrity to be concerned about your privacy and, if you’re like many men and women out there, you probably find this story pretty frightening. The truth is, while you may want the results of your Boca Raton cosmetic surgery procedure to be noticeable, you don’t necessarily want everyone knowing the details. So, I’m going to attempt to answer one of the questions inevitably raised by this story: “Are the details of my cosmetic surgery really private?”
Legal Protections
There are some general legal protections that safeguard the privacy of your medical information. State laws and the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) set rules for the protection of medical records and determine who should be given access and when. One of the benefits of HIPAA is that it requires your physician to provide you with a written notice of privacy policies – so, if you don’t receive this, ask for it.
“What’s Your Policy?”
Many men and women may not realize how much information they can get by asking their surgeon one simple question: “What are your privacy policies?” HIPAA requires that this information be available to you upon request. In many instances, it also can be found quite easily on a surgeon’s Web site (you can visit my site for an example).
What most privacy policies will have in common: Your healthcare information is confidential and, except to certain entities and under certain predetermined circumstances (for example, to your insurance provider or to other healthcare providers in the event of an emergency), your confidential healthcare information cannot be released unless specific written authorization is obtained from you.
Choose Your Surgeon Wisely
An ethical surgeon will always protect (and ensure that their staff protects) your personal and medical information. It’s an essential aspect of a trusting doctor-patient relationship. By choosing a board-certified plastic surgeon with a long list of satisfied patients, you are taking an important step toward keeping your private information private.
So, wrapping up, what I’d like to point out is this: surgeons and their staff have a legal and ethical responsibility to protect the privacy of their patients. If you take the appropriate steps to choose an ethical surgeon and to know your rights, then there is no reason to worry that the details of your plastic surgery in Boca Raton will be divulged to the general public without your knowledge or consent.
Leave a Reply