Bulletproof

This from the Daytona Beach News-Journal:
"Florida Hospital Memorial System -- including Florida Hospitals Flagler, Oceanside and Ormond Memorial -- will begin using a system May 31 that's designed to be HIPAA violation-proof. Halifax Medical Center has been doing it for a year.
Information about a patient -- beyond a one-word description of their condition -- will be given out only if the caller has a patient identification number. This way, hospital personnel will be relieved of the burden of having to figure out whether the caller is really the patient's aunt or uncle calling from out of town."
Whether or not any system will be "HIPAA violation-proof" is problematic, but this looks like a move in the right direction. Anecdotally, one of the most common complaints I hear from health-care staff, especially in hospitals, is that they can't discuss conditions with relatives. This should at least address that issue.
See the full item here.