[Forward from the politech list ... John]
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-----Original Message-----
From: Declan McCullagh
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 08/01/01 16:32
Subject: FC: How companies buy medical histories from MDs, nurses
********
From: "Dr. Joshua Kerbel" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Medical Privacy story
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 11:12:00 -0500
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This may interest other readers
<http://www.torontostar.com/apps/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=thest
ar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=978928267281&call_page=TS_News&cal
l_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News>http<http://www.torontosta
r.com/apps/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type
1&c=Article&cid=978928267281&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&
call_pagepath=News/News>://www.torontostar.com/apps/AppLogic+FTContentSe
rver?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=978928267281&ca
ll_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News
Up for sale: Your secret health files
Companies buy medical histories from MDs, nurses
Tyler Hamilton
TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
Dr. James Sears calls himself North America's top medical investigator.
So
if you've got any skeletons in your closet, watch out: Prying eyes may
be
watching.
Two years ago, Sears decided to launch a service that performs medical
background checks for companies wanting to verify the health history of
job
candidates.
The idea was to sniff out records - increasingly in electronic format -
that reveal undisclosed medical conditions that could result in numerous
sick days and low productivity somewhere down the road.
``We do something nobody else in Canada does,'' says Sears, founder of
The
Second Opinion, a Toronto-based business. ``In five years, we feel it
will
be as commonplace as checking references on a resume.''
To date, his clients have included Canadian Tire and the Toronto Transit
Commission.
Sears says he doesn't need access to the Internet to carry out his
investigations. Rather, his methods are much more simple: Make phone
calls
to doctors' offices and hospitals, and request data from receptionists,
nurses and administrators who generally have access to computer medical
records.
Most times he has permission to carry out his checks through consent
provisions on job applications. ``If you don't, then you have to do a
lot
of hunting and digging. And we have our ways of doing that,'' he says.
As a special report on privacy in today's @Biz section shows, it has
never
been easier to collect personal health, financial and consumer
information
in this age of electronic government and online commerce.
[...]
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