Mandatory health screening question "Do you have guns in the home"?

[tipsntails7]

This is typical liberal thought process, focus on the gun part...and not the mentally unstable people part..... and doing something about them.

Been I have to agree completely with you. The mental health system in this country is really in ruins and no one wants to fork over money to make it any better.

I guess the problem is what would you rather have, yearly mandatory mental health screenings that you have to pay for or a simple question that you can brush to the side. Just something to think about.

 

[PaPaFrank]

unfortunately, the EPIC system is the real deal. I worked in adult psychiatry in a
major medical center in Cleve,Oh for a few years, and we used the EPIC system of record keeping.
For a caregiver, the system is great once it's learned, as it furnishes just about anything
one would need to know about a patient. I'm not sure of the government connection
but most of the patients I saw there were newly shocked out felons who were sentenced to
mandatory mental health services.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

Thanks for the 1st hand confirmation

 

[Daniel_M]

I just did this first hand as my daughter was born.

They asked if by wife was depressed, felt safe at home and if there were any weapons.

I piped up and told them that line of questions wouldn't be answered.

 

[Rob5589]

Been going on for a while now during child well checks. My answer is always the same, "What? Guns? Oh gosh no."

 

[Rob5589]

I just did this first hand as my daughter was born.

They asked if by wife was depressed, felt safe at home and if there were any weapons.

I piped up and told them that line of questions wouldn't be answered.

Pretty standard questions upon arrival to the ER. I usually hear "do you feel safe at home", at most ER's I enter. The husband "piping up" and saying that those would not be answered probably wasn't the best way to handle it, if you get my drift. Depending on the practitioner, she may have been questioned again when you weren't present. Probably best to discuss with the wife how to answer in the future.

 

[Daniel_M]

Mandatory health screening question "Do you have guns in the home"?

Standard or not, you have rights to privacy and don't have to answer.

My wife was in the middle of getting an epidural, so my responses were practical, the timing was not.

 

[mmw194287]

Anther coworker's wife is a head nurse at the same medical facility. And has just undergone extensive training in an EPIC records system. Which is purported to be a link of ALL of your medical records and past history to include all prior hand written records once data entry can catch up. The EPIC records system is reported to be owned by the US Government. On the list of accessible users is the Department of Homeland Security. He went on to explain to me that the EPIC records system was pushed out to medical groups with a $50,000 BONUS per Dr in the group the 1st year. Then it was simply offered at no charge.....but is soon headed in the direction that there will be stiff monetary penalties to the groups for NOT using the system in the next few years ie......comply with our national database or be taxed.

EPIC is a privately-held, Wisonsin-based company. Nothing about it is any more sinister than the many other companies making billions off of the healthcare system...they just write software instead of push pills.

Snopes has pretty thoroughly debunked all of these conspiracy theories--citing, among other sources, the NRA itself.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/medicare.asp

 

[Rob5589]

Standard or not, you have rights to privacy and don't have to answer.

Absolutely true. Just pointing out some medical personnel may raise an eyebrow by you piping up and answering for her. But under the circumstances, it makes sense.

My wife was in the middle of getting an epidural, so my responses were practical, the timing was not.

That's freakin' weird for sure. Really bad timing, to say the least.

 

[Becca]

Absolutely true. Just pointing out some medical personnel may raise an eyebrow by you piping up and answering for her. But under the circumstances, it makes sense.

The hospital I work for doesnt currently require me to ask any questions about firearms, but I do have to ask the patient the questions about whether they feel safe in their home. The next question on the admit assessment that I am required to answer (but am instructed not to actually ask the patient or their family) is whether the person or people accompanying the patient are answering questions for them, reluctant to leave them alone with me, or minimizing/denying statements by the patient that might indicate abuse.

Under the circumstances you described Dan, I would have used my professional judgement and figured you were answering questions because your wife was indisposed, and I wouldn't have "flagged" you for it, but I imagine there are other healthcare providers who might. Just a heads up for any of you who might find yourselves in similar situations in the future. Because medical personnel, like teachers, LEO, social workers and many others are considered mandatory reporters, we are required by law to report any possible suspiciousion of abuse or neglect. As an RN if I document evidence or behavior suggestive of child/elder abuse and fail to report it I can lose my license and also be subject to criminal proceedings.

The hospital I work for will be switching to EPIC later this year, but as i understand it there are several versions in use. I will be curious to see if I will be required to ask the question about firearms, and also what my employer or the state expects me to do with that information.

 

[Shrek]

EPIC is a privately-held, Wisonsin-based company. Nothing about it is any more sinister than the many other companies making billions off of the healthcare system...they just write software instead of push pills.

Snopes has pretty thoroughly debunked all of these conspiracy theories--citing, among other sources, the NRA itself.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/medicare.asp

Any and all electronic records are being collected by the NSA and although their ability to manage and collate the "meta data" into meaningful information is limited now it will not be in the near future. Our government is spending billions of dollars to build massive supercomputing centers to sift through the online data they are collecting. As your health records are transferred to electronic files and in the future made as electronic files it is all easily accessible to the government through secret orders from secret courts that answer to no one in reality. That's if they even bother with a court order as there is nobody watching the watchmen. We live in a police surveillance state that operates with a light velvet touch but let the government bureaucracy state be truly threatened you will feel a rougher touch in a hurry.

 

[mmw194287]

Any and all electronic records are being collected by the NSA and although their ability to manage and collate the "meta data" into meaningful information is limited now it will not be in the near future. Our government is spending billions of dollars to build massive supercomputing centers to sift through the online data they are collecting. As your health records are transferred to electronic files and in the future made as electronic files it is all easily accessible to the government through secret orders from secret courts that answer to no one in reality. That's if they even bother with a court order as there is nobody watching the watchmen. We live in a police surveillance state that operates with a light velvet touch but let the government bureaucracy state be truly threatened you will feel a rougher touch in a hurry.

I was just pointing out that EPIC is a company, not a government entity. To the larger point here--it's just as realistic to propose the following scenario:

"It is reported that Microsoft Windows is owned by the government. They gave computer companies discounts in order to bundle it with laptops and PCs. It is storing everything you write and when they come to take our guns away they'll first look at what you typed into your PC"


I'm fully aware of the capabilities of the national security state. You can't assemble meta-data into "data" in the sense that you are suggesting. That's like saying I can figure out what you've said on your phone by looking at your phone bill. But I don't really want to get into the semantics of the whole Snowden leak.

If the government really wants to use electronic records to disarm people, wouldn't it be far easier to see who is posting pictures of and talking about guns on the internet on websites like this rather than breaking into medical files to see if someone said "yes" or "no" at their physical?

 

[realunlucky]

Russians just proved that the NSA had installed spyware into harddrives that were exported wonder what they install in the ones that stay here.

 

[realunlucky]

They ask the question for a reason right?

 

[mtnwrunner]

No way Jose'. Do NOT answer that question. They ask that question for a reason and it is an intrusion on your rights and privacy.
I've also been asked and I've always said no.


Randy

 

[Mike7]

Ray is absolutely right about how things started, and Pediatricians in general are the most liberal group of physicians that I have met from the perspective of not believing in individual rights or gun rights.

The gov't is getting more and more control of health care in this country, whether people realize it or not (this is not a new thing, but rather hidden well previously from the average health care consumer). It is not a far stretch for the federal government to coopt suggestions from left leaning physician groups and bureaucrats and include them as required reporting for providers, and as such a required part of electronic health records for "meaningful use".

Once those suggestions become required reporting for physicians, then the government has access to all of that information in audits, but I don't believe they can seek out information which is individually identified to you at this point if you are privately insured. But if the gov't pays your health care bills, then as the payor, they will be able to access everything about you directly and which is directly identified as being your info, regardless of what system your doctor uses. When you are seen at a clinic, you sign paperwork authorizing medical information to be released to the payor of your medical bills to ensure proper billing/payment...and that is all without the gov't even having to use the NSA to acccess some big health insurance company's records on the cloud, and without the state sharing info with the feds about what you have purchased (here in WA the state tracks your hangun purchases, and now apparently all purchases pending any court challenges).

So, the bottom line is. If you want privacy, then don't have the gov't pay your health care bills, vote against all progressives or people that are for more state control and against personal responsibility, and don't give any information which you don't want to get out there.

 

[Mike7]

Many of the mass shooters purchased guns legally (not a personal transaction, but rather a retail purchase), because no matter how "crazy" they were, none of their health information was included in the National Instant Background Check. I have always felt that people with a history of uncontrolled psychosis who have been involuntarily admitted to mental health units on more than one occasion, should somehow be flagged on the Instant Check System, but I am not completely sure how you set that system up, so that someone that had some depression or someone who belongs to the Tea Party doesn't lose their right to bear arms.

 

[Rizzy]

Interesting, I don't even remember being asked this question at the hospital or the pediatrician visits with the kids. It must have been obvious I'm a gun owner

I bet all the data EPIC collects is worth millions to marketers.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

Becca-

I'm not taking shots at you, but trying to get answers.

Are you an RN in the ER? I could see potential cover ups dealing w DV/Child Abuse.

Still failing to see how the firearm question is remotely relevant pre epidural, prostate exam, or annual physical???

 

[Becca]

No offense taken, and I was only trying to offer perspective based on my experience as a healthcare worker. those of us providing direct patient care don't get to make a lot of decisions about what questions to ask if said questions are on the required admit assessment. If I omit an answer on the electronic form I am usually prompted to enter a reason why I couldn't provide an answer (the patient is unconscious, doesn't speak English, etc).

I am an RN, working with hospitalized inpatients primarily in cardiac care, but also occasionally critical care and other care areas (never pediatrics). Most often when I encounter potential abuse in my job, it is related to elder abuse, as most of my patient population are on the older age end up the spectrum, and some reside in Long a term Care facilities or assisted living homes. Much less frequently, I might interact with an adult victim of assault or domestic violence, but in those cases if the adult is deemed able to protect their own interests, I am only required to make a social services referral. In other words, adult patients have the right not to pursue legal action against other people who have harmed them.

I do admit a fair number of patients directly from physicians offices (I.e. They aren't seen in ER before they get admitted) and I have always presumed that's why the admit assessment included those screening questions...The admitting nurse is sometimes (though not always) the first hospital employee a patient interacts with.

Our admission assessment is standardized throughout the facility, so I presume nurses in maternal child or pediatrics are instructed to ask the same questions that I am.

I am honestly not sure how I will handle it if I am someday required to ask the questions about firearms.