Please understand that I am not selling a thing, friends. I don’t even own a Website (in the conventional sense). I am merely trying to alert my profession of the imminent HIPAA disaster which nobody wants to face, not even the ADA. In fact, a few Internet editors who have advertising interests with the ADA have gone so far as to censor me in a futile attempt to deny me freedom of speech. Though it can be dependably entertaining, it never ends well for slow-moving dinosaurs and does little to promote transparency, until the last day or so.

I have been following the HIPAA issue a long time. I was surprised to discover how very difficult it is to find HIPAA consultants who will entertain suggestions that HIPAA just might be the most stupid idea ever supported by the ADA. Who can blame them? The mandate, stupid or not, is their living.

That is why I sincerely respect Dr. Donald Cohen for allowing my comments to appear following his article “Dentists Should Know About New HIPAA Rules” that was posted on DentalBlogs.com a few days ago.
http://www.dentalblogs.com/archives/administrator/dentists-should-know-about-new-hipaa-rules/comment-page-1/

In the last few days, I have been participating in an unprecedented and urgently needed discussion about HIPAA and dentistry with HIPAA consultants Kelly Mclendon, who is a Registered Health Information Administrator, and Olivia Wann, a Registered Dental Assistant with a BS in Health Care Administration. Our exchanges are at the last of an article titled “Kelly Mclendon RHIA – censors – D. Kellus Pruitt DDS.”
http://healthcarefinancials.wordpress.com/2009/08/16/kelly-mclendon-rhia-censors-d-kellus-pruitt-dds/

Here are the six questions we discussed which I first posed to Mclendon:

1. How will eDRs (electronic dental records) improve care of dental patients?

2. How will eDRs increase patient safety?

3. What does Olivia Wann mean when she says that having a national system for computerized health records will simplify compliance in the US?

4. How will eDRs save costs in dentistry?

5. How will eDRs minimize errors in dentistry?

6. How will eDRs maximize efficiency?

Considering all the topics we covered, I’d say we eliminated a dozen or so common misconceptions about electronic dental records and HIPAA. I’m thankful for this opportunity to spread the word so that progress is given a chance.

Thank you, Dr. Cohen. Your courage is not unnoticed. I’ll offer you an opportunity soon.

D. Kellus Pruitt DDS

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If a dentist’s practice is located in a poor neighborhood, it could be burglarized a couple of times a year.

What have we allowed stakeholders to do to our profession?

D. Kellus Pruitt DDS

D. Kellus Pruitt DDS