[Acupuncture-students] Pete T.

[Pete Theisen]

Hi Dr. Al!

You are correct, it is an in-house number. No one can figure out the 
patient's identity unless they know the key, which I have not divulged. 
Come to think of it, if they *did* know the key, they still could not 
figure out who the patient is, the system is that secure. If the flaming 
and shouting has aroused anyone's concern, rest easy - nothing improper is 
going on.

I have been in practice for some time and I am aware of patient 
confidentiality, this is why I assign patient numbers, the patient can 
sign/her his number to a message, sign in with that number and so on. The 
patient number also makes it possible to discuss *real* patients as case 
studies, and to study/compare notes on live cases in real time within our 
worldwide professional community.

At 09:38 PM 4/8/2004, you wrote:
>If that patient's ID # is something like a SS# then yes, this is a 
>violation of privacy standards. I assumed that it was just an ID number 
>that Pete uses in-house.
>
>-al.

Regards,

Pete