Physicians Asking About Sexual Orientation

The questions are asked on the form to be filled out updating the medical history which they hand out prior to my yearly physical.

The questions are asked on the form to be filled out updating the medical history which they hand out prior to my yearly physical.

MANY people lie or give out vanilla information.

Most people with whom I have discussed this topic refuse to answer the "personal" questions in written questionnaires and on interview, such as: how is your home life, how is the relationship with your family members/wife/children, do you own any guns, do you engage in any dangerous activities, etc., because it is none of their fucking business.

Susie: In the US, is it allowed for the clinic to transmit this information to the medical insurer? If so I definitely understand not giving any information.

Insurance companies can get all information from your present and past physicians. You give them that right when you sign the insurance application forms. Any and all findings from exams or discussions can be transmitted. NOTHING IS OFF THE RECORD.

Never volunteer information to anybody. When asked, always give as vanilla a reply as possible--heterosexual, no recreational drugs, ONE glass of wine with dinner Saturday night, etc., you get the picture.

There are certain jobs that require the same type of release forms and access to medical records as insurance companies. People with sensitive jobs or clearances are required to sign a medical release of information form. If you tell our doc you occasionally use recreational drugs, and your boss thinks your acting a little funny, he can (indirectly) get access to your records.

At my clinic we work very hard to protect our patients information. The patient has an option of signing a constant form to test anonymously. An anonymous contest allows them to sign using a pseudonym (you won't believe how many times I've tested Donald Trump in the last couple of years..lmao) and the patient is issued a 15 digit code that is used to track all paper work and tests. That has given our agency the ability to reach a lot of people that would normally not consent to a HIV test if they had to provide their personal information.

It concerns me how much of all our personal information seems to be more public then private.

No, I have never been asked the question. Although I am shocked they would ask with all of rules and regulations regarding privacy. I think in most cases assumption might take precedence over asking....

I can’t say I’ve ever had them ask specifically about orientation or preferences. Most of the time they don’t ask anything in experience, but I think maybe once they asked something like “men women or both?”

Insurance companies can get all information from your present and past physicians. You give them that right when you sign the insurance application forms. Any and all findings from exams or discussions can be transmitted. NOTHING IS OFF THE RECORD.

Never volunteer information to anybody. When asked, always give as vanilla a reply as possible--heterosexual, no recreational drugs, ONE glass of wine with dinner Saturday night, etc., you get the picture.

I agree 100 percent! I only give information that pertains to my current state of health, symptoms if any, etc. Strictly medically related. When it comes to those “lifestyle choice” questions, such as how much alcohol I consume, recreational activities, guns in the home, etc., I always answer “that’s personal, I will not answer that”. Once any information you give gets written down or typed onto a computer, you’re screwed. The insurance company will definitely see it, and potentially others will as well, including employers. No thank you!!!

such as how much alcohol I consume

I am quite certain that the amount of alcohol consumed does have a very direct bearing on your health. People who (try to) hide excessive alcohol usage from a physician are only shooting themselves in the foot. It will become apparent sooner or later anyway. Very short-sighted.

I along with two of my brothers attempted to buy life insurance on a fourth brother who owned a company that employed us all to put us in a financial position to acquire the company should die. Due to the fact that he had admitted to smoking pot years earlier the insurance companies refused to write the policy. This was about fifteen years ago. Hopefully things have changed. As far as the HIPA laws designed to protect patient privacy they are a joke.

I was asked once what my sexual orientation was I said I was single and my doctor ask if I liked men or women and I told her women

Asked every time, that's interesting and unnecessary I think.

Imagine being a male patient and being asked that, and your answer matches what the doctor is. And then you get an erection during the genital exam and say something like: "See, you wouldn't have had to ask if you waited until now"

I am quite certain that the amount of alcohol consumed does have a very direct bearing on your health. People who (try to) hide excessive alcohol usage from a physician are only shooting themselves in the foot. It will become apparent sooner or later anyway. Very short-sighted.

It isn’t about hiding alcohol consumption from the doctor. If only the doctor knew it, no problem. The problem lies with the fact that it goes on your medical record, which, for all intents and purposes, is public record. Hippa laws are a joke here in the good ol’ USA. Your insurance company sees it. Many employers have prospective employees sign a consent form as part of a background check that allows them to access your medical records to ensure you are “fit for duty”, both physically and mentally. If you apply for life insurance, like others on this thread have mentioned, they will have access to your medical record. Any admitted alcohol or drug consumption will be looked upon negatively by a prospective employer or life insurance company, even if you literally only have one glass of wine a week.

For the record, I am a far cry from consuming excessive alcohol. I have heard that Europe has better privacy laws than the US, but I do not trust anything that is stored on some hard drive or server. Just this past week alone there were two big data breaches in the US. I have personally had my supposedly private medical records compromised. Four or five years ago, my health insurance company had a huge data breach. Mine and millions of other’s medical records were compromised, probably for sale on the so called dark web, where data thieves sell people’s personal information. Pretty much everything an identity thief needs to steal your identity is on your medical record. Name, address, date of birth, social security number, etc. is all on there. So I contribute as little information about myself as possible. Big data has enough information on me already!

I went for STD testing at a specialized center for men who have sex with men. I was asked why I wanted to do this test. It bothered me. It was not a question of simply saying that I was gay, which is the case for the majority of men who attend this center, but, implicitly, I was asked about my behavior.

The problem lies with the fact that it goes on your medical record, which, for all intents and purposes, is public record. Hippa laws are a joke here in the good ol’ USA. Your insurance company sees it.

I never hear or read about any such complaints in the country where I live, nor in other (western) EU countries. Medical records are NOT public record here and I would not like to be charged with violating them.

And yet, our medical records are on-line, in the sense that medical personnel (at hospitals or emergency services for instance) can immediately get pertinent medical information on a patient, be it a new patient or one they have had for years. My family doctor can instantly access tests done by specialists and the other way around. When I go to a new doctor/specialist, I no longer have to go through the litany of telling about a past operation or which prescription drug I am now taking, even if I forget the name (which I do). It is all in my medical records.

Nor are our medical records 'government-controlled' as the more paranoid believers would wish to think. They are administered through what are called 'mutualities' who act as intermediaries between patients and the Ministry of Health. These are non-profit institutions, usually having historically grown from political affiliation. Meaning there are Christian Democrat mutualities, Socialist, Conservative etc ...

And neither does one hear of big breaches of security and so on. Employers are not allowed access to medical records, period. If they should ever use these from illegal sources, well, I wish them a long and boring prison stay or a draining of their bank accounts and assets and preferably both.

It seems there is always a huge breach or a massive security leak going on in the US. Sometimes i have to wonder how much of that is just sensationalist reporting gone overboard in order to keep people scared and docile and secretive and scared.

Not exactly. But in a roundabout way. I have been asked about sexual partners, both male and female

The problem lies with the fact that it goes on your medical record, which, for all intents and purposes, is public record. Hippa laws are a joke here in the good ol’ USA. Your insurance company sees it.

The medical record isn't a public record, but it is easy for people to discover information that you are led to believe is private.

HIPAA laws are a joke. They protect no one and usually only get people in trouble when the person/people whose information is leaked finds out about it.

WARNING:

DO NOT VOLUNTEER INFORMATION

GIVE VANILLA, HETERO REPLIES TO QUESTIONS

GIVE THE VERY SHORTEST ANSWER POSSIBLE TO ANY QUESTION

DON'T BE AFRAID TO TELL THE INTERVIEWER "IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS."

The medical record isn't a public record, but it is easy for people to discover information that you are led to believe is private.

HIPAA laws are a joke. They protect no one and usually only get people in trouble when the person/people whose information is leaked finds out about it.

I know that medical records aren’t public record, I was being sarcastic. I really wish someone would invent a sarcasm font! ?

But it is relatively easy for that information to be compromised. Data breaches are a common occurrence, as seen regularly on the news.