The comments below are a compilation of all the written comments submitted in the recent AAPS survey of physicians concerning HIPAA. The comments were in response to the question, "I would describe the HIPAA Privacy Rule as:."

• b.s.
• onerous
• intrusive and expensive
• a major problem
• patient privacy regarding medical record treatment
• unnecessary if docs realize that the dr/pt contract supercedes all other contracts. Where is the class action suit.
• nonsense
• atrocious
• unnecessary,burdensome
• big brother
• obnoxious
• one more cur nipping at my heels.
• another totalitarian regime tactic
• unnecessarily burdensome
• nonsense
• bullsh**t The Maryland state supported managed care system has already put me in chapter 11 bankruptcy
• motivated by concerns other than solely privacy concerns
• ridiculous
• a bunch of b.s.
• onerous and burdensome
• bureaucratic bullsh**t!
• absurd
• intrusive
• Bureaucratic doo-doo! Expensive, odious and unnecessary.
• not necessary
• an invasion of privacy between physician/patient
• bureaucratic hogwash
• over-reacting governmental bureaucracy and that will only increase paperwork.
• unnecessary
• something really not needed
• more administrative work generally unnecessary
• 'big brother' bureaucratic megalomania
• outrageous
• excellent in theory--overall burdens of compliance as setup unnecessary/crippling to solo MD
• a potential disaster
• unreasonably intrusive
• another layer of government regulation on medical practice
• absurd
• intrusive, unreasonable, counter-productive
• another bureaucratic nightmare
• a further burden on physicians who are already having trouble surviving
• stupid
• another costly layer of dubious patient value
• largely unnecessary
• not necessary
• unnecessary for a solo practice or small practice
• unnecessarily intrusive
• another example of bureaucrats justifying their existence
• burdensome
• absurd and unnecessary
• irritating
• abusive
• excessive
• draconian manipulation and the end of privacy in America
• burdensome
• invasive and expensive
• useless!
• more federal interference in medicine
• misguided, expensive, waste of time!
• stupid
• another attempt at countrolling something that is out of control already
• unknown and needlessly complicated
• mindless
• obtrusive and stupid
• ridiculous
• no comment
• ridiculous
• outrageously intrusive; totally inapppropriate for most of us
• not worth the words
• asinine! an obscene bureaucratic federal boondoggle whose sole purpose is to aggravate and cost doctors large sums of money and further put us all at risk for obscene fines and jail sentences; totally unnecessary serving no purpose
• ridiculous;intrusion by politicians into the doctor/patient relationship.
• shi**y
• bad joke
• bureaucratic nonsense
• oppressive
• poor execution of the right idea
• ludicrous!
• a cover-up for politically ???? pts.
• oppressive
• ridiculous
• intrusive
• abusive, intrusive and another example of congress penalizing physicians and health care providers
• bureaucracy gone crazy
• 'privacy' backfiring--becoming worse
• ridiculous
• more devastating intrusion into ethical medical practice by self-assured politicians and bureaucracy
• burdensome
• government waste
• ridiculous
• a bad joke--resulting in less privacy
• not necessay; ludicrous,burdensome
• unnecessary
• outrageous overkill
• bullsh**t
• bull
• going too far--not always patient friendly
• intrusive, costly and targeted at the wrong sector, solo practioners cannot afford more government in medicine
• burdensome and expensive
• totally absurd
• a nuisance
• unnecessary, bureaucratic over-reaction to a very small problem
• a ridiculous burden
• bulls**t
• burden
• a lot of work, some unnecessary, some silly
• confusing
• sinister
• bulls**t
• unnecessary
• another compiance regulating without reimbursement for implementation when I don't have a problem with it to start with
• waste of time and money
• one more government intrusion. There is no end.
• bureaucratic efforts to enslave us
• cumbersome
• ridiculous
• waste of time
• unnecessary
• burdensome, bureaucratic boondoggle
• unconstitutional and reflective of a govt out of control
• burdensome
• useless
• not applying to me but unconstitutional anyway
• secretive, possibly dangerous to private practice
• an intrusive boondoggle
• somewhat necessary
• bureaucracy
• stupid
• dangerous
• overly cumbersome
• needed to protect e-records
• unnecessary governmental intrusion into private business and patient care adding yet another tier of complexity and potential for attorneys to bring suit against physicians
• bureaucratic nonsense
• insane
• unworkable, unfunded mandates
• excessive/intrusive; increase bureaucracy
• B.s.
• annoying
• ridiculous
• unnecessary, costly burden
• ludicrous, foolish, frustrating
• bulls**t--I have read all of the congressional record--total B.S.
• I can't describe it.
• Government interference
• onerous
• onerous and probably ineffective on a practical level
• incredible bureaucratic nonsense!
• government interference
• an unnecessary intervention in the doctor/patient relationship
• very time consuming--somewhat necessary, but over-rated.
• just another governmental wedy between patient and doctor
• an intrusion into private practice--unnecessary and unwanted
• another 9th amendment and 10th amendment violation
• absurd--driving the cost to the physician up, again!
• ridiculous
• waste of time
• moronic
• intrusive, laborious
• tyranny
• a major hassle; no protection for patients' privacy
• more bureaucratic crappola!
• excessive government intrusion
• ridiculous and overbearing
• another in a series of inane legislation and potentially crippling to patient welfare
• invasive, unnecessary and B.S.
• intrusive, detrimental
• unnecessary
• patient confidentiality
• will not achieve the purpose for which it was intended; an expense that does not contribute to higher quality medical care
• rididulous, unneeded; I will probably leave practice if I have to comply
• bullsh**t
• ridiculous
• absurd; lawyers already attend conferences 'how to sue doctors and hospitals for HIPAA violations.'
• more government over-regulation
• oppressive; poorly thought-out,capricious
• worthless, unnecessary and extra practice expense
• a Trojan horse
• idiotic
• eroding medical privacy rights
• regular business
• new paperwork
• counterproductive, unnecessary
• intrusive--not applicable to my small computerless office
• unclear
• unnecessary and burdensome
• foolish and misguided albeit well-intentioned
• silly
• B.S.
• draconian
• invasion of my privacy; too costly and unnecessary
• big ripoff for people to chamrge lots of money; useless and worthless
• burdensome to doctors and not protective of patient privacy; info can be bought by telemarketers
• mostly unnecessary; very scary
• more government intervention and regulation
• ridiculous governmental invasion of privately owned business
• beyond intrusive and onerous
• unnecessary under normal conditions, but I understand some practices sell the data for profit
• pain in the neck regulations that cause rising health costs
• not in the best interest of patients or physicians
• unnecessary measure that detracts from the delivery of quality in medical care
• ridiculous
• intrusive
• an enormous pain for both physicians and patient
• bureaucratic colonialism
• unnecessary and does not make sense!
• ridiculous and unnecessary
• disruptive and intrusive
• bureaucratic and unconstitutional; part of socialized medicine thru the back door; invasion of privacy
• unneeded, burdensome and expensive
• unfair and thoughtless
• impossible
• another governmental intervention to make medicine difficult
• intrusive and burdensome to practice medicine
• B.S.
• fascist takeover of medical profession
• bad law!
• a perversion of its intended original goals
• absurd
• another invasion of practice
• un-American
• expletive deleted
• more of the same
• ludicrous
• a govt controlling invasion of personal rights and freedoms
• outrageous, un-American; dictatorial, disastrous!
• one of the things that led me to leave practice at age 53.
• I quit in '97 due primarily to government b.s. I did not lose my license, I didn't renew it
• intrusive
• nonsense
• confusing
• a bureaucratic misadventure at best; impossible at worst
• B.S.
• burdensome and costly and diversionary
• a disingenuous scam and a ridiculous waste of time and money
• Insane, stupid
• Another way to drive up our cost of operation and liability insurance and drive doctors out of business
• meaningless
• excessive federal government interference
• government intrusion
• idiocy
• ludicrous, redundant
• ludicrous, impossible to be in full compliance; just another medicalegal burden to keep lawyers in business
• intrusive; big brotherism
• absurd and unnecessary; another bureaucratic pork barrel
• excessive
• stupid
• more bureaucracy
• bureaucratic
• nonsense, waste of time, more bureaucracy
• similar to current requirement we now have for psychiatry; doesn't seem like a big deal
• obstructive
• Yet more mindless government intrusion into private medicine. No benefit; high potential liability
• outrageous
• onerous
• costly, confusing, discouraging
• A means of trying to protect patients privacy
• Typical government interference in the practice of medicine
• unnecessary and dangerous
• Typical federal govt. And idea with some merit; totally missing the point once implemented
• Ugh!
• A way not to pay doctors.
• Unnecessary to my practice
• Government intrusion
• excessive attempt at patient confidentiality
• contrary to common sense. Any responsible physician protects his patients medical history and records
• barrier to reimbursement and makes costly medical care
• Ridiculous
• onerous
• onerous
• stupid--it won't work!
• unfair regulatory burden on a small medical practice
• Unlikely to make any difference in improved medical care or confidentiality
• more paperwork to interfere with caring for patients
• stupid
• Ridiculous
• Ridiculous
• A few good points but overall a bit of overkill.
• Ridiculous overkill
• Bulls**t
• Bulls**t
• Redundant and unneeded
• Ludicrous and ineffective
• confusing
• over-regulation
• probably helpful, although much too encumbering
• unnecessary nuisance
• BS
• good legislation gone bad!
• overkill
• ridiculous
• ludicrous
• one more step to the complete talkover of medicine by the govt.
• unnecessary burden
• Another regulatory nightmare
• Garbage!
• unnecessary
• one more way others make money
• State run medicine with health providers as peons on the govt. plantation. Lincoln lied! Slavery lives!
• too much and not in right places
• unfunded mandate; overkill
• a pain in the neck
• unneccessary
• unneccessary
• overkill for most private offices
• stupid
• more bureaucracy
• intrusive
• a burden to doctors, bewildering to patients
• burdensome
• Very expensive with no benefits and probably will cause patient harm and definitely will cause major confusion.
• too much
• Burdensome and unneccesary.
• over burdening
• A worthless but potentially damaging body of legislation.
• an unknown
• not sure
• garbage
• A joke, not really privacy. Maybe impossible to actually comply with.
• Confusing; frightening in looking at costs of compliance.
• tyranny
• not needed
• unnecessary in my practice
• nonsense
• burdensome, excessive
• cumbersome and parts of it completely unreasonable
• overbearing, complicated, burdensome
• Something we are already doing, but now lawyers will try to get some action if there is a problem.
• More red tape and regulation.
• unnecessary
• ridiculous
• The act of coding managed care into law.
• Something I need to find out more about.
• bureaucratic garbage
• unnecessary
• absurd!
• silly
• unnecessary
• stupid
• burdensome
• unnecessary, obtrusive, bureaucratic stupidity
• to secure electronic patient information
• Invasive bureaucratic and unlikely to be beneficial for patients
• costly
• burdensome
• frustrating
• more government regulations
• bureaucratic b.s.
• bulls**t
• B.S.
• a mystery
• a disaster for future of medical practice and a windfall for trial attorneys