I recently had a mind blowing experience.
I changed doctors due to a retirement. Both are affiliated with different,very good, Boston area hospitals.
I signed giving permission to my former doctor to send the records to my new doctor.
The records were going about 10 miles.
They were sent to my new doctor by a company called HealthPort in Alpharetta,GA.
MA,to GA,and back to MA.
This may be old news to some but I was furious.
A private company in Georgia has all of my health info.
.
HIPPA is a farce. I went into the emergency room for a kidney stone, they gave me an abdominal ultrasound, charged me $2500 and sent me home. About a month later I started getting "Expectant Mother" magazines. What the heck, I thought.
Then it occurred to me - who gets abdominal ultrasounds? Expectant women!
So much for "privacy". It's a joke.