A friend told me about walking out on a doctor's appointment this week because the office would not tell her whether the staff were vaccinated for Covid19.
The Doctor himself pleaded that his hands were tied.............he could not tell her who in the office was vaccinated and who was not. HIPPA, you know.
I immediately thought of two upcoming doctor's office visits I have next week. Should I call and ask? Don't we patients have the right to know? Just as the office can require us to be masked?
The Washington Post has published a story about that question:
While the American Medical Association’s Code of Medical Ethics doesn’t specifically address whether physicians have a responsibility to disclose personal health information to their patients, it emphasizes the importance of honesty.
All health-care professionals “have an obligation as part of their role responsibilities to advance the interests of their patients and also to engage honestly and truthfully with their patients when the information that is being asked for is instrumental and useful for the patient,” Faden said. (Health-care workers can also ask patients if they’ve been vaccinated, but may still have ethical obligations to provide treatment, regardless of the answer.)
I've emailed the question to my doctor(s)
UPDATE: One of the doctors has replied that both the physician and the other staff member helping have been vaccinated. I have not heard back from the other doctor
No comments:
Post a Comment