OK but for a new parent the HIPPA is a PITA

[flagger]

I am sure you have signed this form with every doctor. It is a privacy act basically.

Well, our maternity center/education center cannot share names or contact information of parents who had a baby around the same time because of HIPPA. I said well if someone calls in, we give you permission to give them our email/number.

"Sorry we cannot do that."

Peds office is the same way. Luckily there is a playgroup for Cocoa's age range forming in my neighborhood. It is hard enough being a SAHD without this obstacle.

[mama2be]

oh flagger i am thrilled that is in place!!!! i might be reading wrong but are you saying you'd want your info shared???? with insurances, pre existing conditions etc.... i made it very clear to any medical office they do not have the right to share my families info.

there was a huge story recently where a drug rep gave kudos to a medical office worker to supply names of people who were recently prescribed Prozac and this rep sent these people literature on his "medicine"...i mean in my opinion the larger the wall up the mre difficult for trickles of problems to develop.

I'm actually suprised you of all folks isn't supportive of this based on many things you've said before. i'd rather meet folks i want to hang out with vs them calling me based on t's arrival date...

something tells me i have misread your post...if so ignore me :)....

[flagger]

There are some good points to HIPPA, but there are some bad points as well. I am a firm believer in privacy, but in reading past posts you find several who were able to contact other mothers from the hospital/maternity center in the interest of forming a playgroup, etc.

There are some unintended consequences.

[Raidra]

I work at a hospital, and so know ALL about HIPPA. Just a few months ago we had a patient who had a baby here at our hospital, and was thrilled to find out she could opt out of being listed in our patient directory. Turns out the father of the baby was very abusive and she was trying to sever ties with him, but he kept showing up at her house, etc. Well, he called the hospital a few times, asking if she was here. He got extremely upset when we told him that there was no patient by that name in our directory (we have to say that, not I can't give that information out). He ended up coming into the hospital and going up to the maternity floor to find her, but because we were aware of the situation, security was able to stop him before he saw that she was there.

The office that I work in does labwork and mammograms, and many times men will come in asking if their wife is still in having her mammogram. We can't tell them anything, because you never know who the man could actually be. Better to protect the privacy of the one in a hundred patients who need it, and cause everyone else a bit of a hassle. Could you imagine if I said "Yes, Mrs. Smith is here" and then some creep waited outside for her and did God knows what to her?

Did you ask if maternity center will let you post a flyer about a playgroup?

[josephsmom]

Flagger, I have a friend in Cincinnati who is a SAHD and is involved in a big SAHD organization. If you type "Cincinnati Stay At Home Dads" into your browser, you'll find their website. Perhaps that will give you some networking ideas. Other than that, you'll probably meet a lot of people in the ped's office, etc.

Helene
mommy to Joseph 12/29/01

[mharling]

I, for one, would be freaked out if someone I didn't know called me out of blue and asked me to join a playgroup.

For as private as you keep things, I am surprised, Flagger, that you would be OK with your maternity center/education center sharing your information. There's no guarantee that someone who would ask for this information is a well-intentioned parent. I agree with HIPAA and your center about not making this information available.

I know that you disagree and just wanted to bitch! Just adding my two cents.

Mary & Lane 4/6/03
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b3237413c427 - New 6/18

[flagger]

Yeah I know. And I understand and appreciate the reasoning. I worked in registration in a hospital so I know all about confidentiality. Just venting really.

I know the importance of getting out of the house everyday, so looking forward to playgroups if the moms will have me. :)

[mama2be]

Flagger if I lived in Charlotte...or you in Raleigh I'd invite you into our play group...those moms in charlotte will have you!!!! Keep us posted!!!! I hope you look at the above mentioned web site that seemed like a great start :)...

[egoldber]

Does the maternity center where Cocoa was born (or any area hospital system) do baby&me type sessions for new parents? That's how I got into my playgroup. I went to a few sessions and then another mom and I passed around a sign up sheet for anyone who was interested in forming a playgroup.

I don't know what I would do without mine, so I understand your desire to find one!

[flagger]

Oh Neve, that is so sweet of you really. Well I was up with a late night feeding and burping and I did a one-handed typing search and found this http://www.charlottemommies.com/

I am going to fire off an email to see if they have any dads in their group.

Beth - Thanks for the idea about passing something around at the maternity center.

[flagger]

>I don't know what I would do without mine, so I understand
>your desire to find one!

The Charlotte Mommies link I posted has allowed me to join, so I cannot wait for a first playdate at the park. What a relief.

[kurosch]

I can understand the desire of a SAHP to network with others in the same boat, but I really think you should reconsider your options here. Surely there must be other, better ways of finding parents of children around Cocoa's age. Schools, churches, YMCA, anything. But maybe your community is different than the major metropolis that we live in.

I work for the Medicaid agency of my state's government so I've had to learn all about the HIPAA rules since I have direct access to personally identifying health information. I think it's actually sad that it takes a Federal regulation to mandate patient privacy. The things that HIPAA requires should be standard procedure in the first place, IMO.

kurosch

[KathyO]

I worked at a library in a small town where it was an absolute rule that we never discussed what any patron had borrowed with any other patron, also in the name of privacy. Who would borrow the books on sensitive topics (mental health, marital and health problems, etc.) otherwise?

I did commit one bad gaffe, though, that I regret to this day. An ultra-religious couple ran a business nearby, and their adolescent daughter would come to the library after school to do her homework, then be picked up by her mother or father when their business closed. When her homework was done, she'd pick up whatever caught her eye in the fiction section and read it until Mom or Dad called from the door. One day in conversation, the mother said, "I hope she's not any trouble to you." "Oh, no, not at all," I exclaimed. "It's so great to see the kids that age reading the books." The mother's face turned to stone, and I realized to my horror -- the daughter was supposed to be in the library... but NOT to read any of our nasty, subversive, modern books! I didn't see her much again after that. I wish I could find her and apologize. I know what an oasis books were for me at that age, and my parents were far more liberal than hers. I'd never dreamed that privacy could/should even extend to the fact that a person READS...

KathyO

[Vajrastorm]

Kathy, that is so sad. :(

[kurosch]

That's simply tragic. Humans can be cruel and preposterous enough as it is, but throw in a little fundamentalist religion and they are simply unbelievable.

kurosch