HIPPA (hooray) Law

If you are like most of the "normal" world, you have had the opportunity to come across the intricacies of the HIPPA Law. You know, that one that protects your right to privacy of your own medical information. At 2:00 a. m. as my new roommate was being interrogated about the complexities of her medical background, the fashionable curtain with the holes at the top and the 2 foot gap at the bottom did not protect the new patient's rights from my ears. I tried not to laugh, I mean listen as tall lady rattled off her stats. When asked about the frequency of her bowel functions, tall lady admitted that at times she needs a "pository." The pository works real good. Nurse woman does not crack a smile or falter in her delivery, probing further into tall lady's business. When asked if she had problems with her diaphram such as a hernia, tall lady enthusiastically replied that she had one of those "hi Ernies". And she was real proud of it, too. Now I often wonder how much info I am suppose to give and will the nurse woman deem it important enough to type on the fancy machine. Guess I have my answer. I should have been telling them about "hi Ernies" and skipped the critical info that seemed "normal."