Why You Shouldn’t Trust Your Financial Advisor’s Awards

Posted on October 4, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

OVERHEARD IN THE DOCTOR’S LOUNGE

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By D. Kellus Pruitt DDS

According to money journalists Max Tailwagger and Allan Roth of MoneyWatch, the trade publication Medical Economics Magazine [“advertising supplement”] nearly listed a dog on its’ 2013 list of Best Financial Advisors for Doctors.  Indeed, being listed as a top financial advisor in this publication would enhance any advisor’s credibility as well as reach a high income readership.

For example, several advisors in the Financial Planning Association, mentions this prestigious award year after year. And, the NAPFA organization of fee-only financial planners has issued press releases when member advisors make this annual list. In fact, in 2008, it touted that 52/150 listed FAs were NAPFA members. 

Yet, the dog is well known in the financial advisory world, having allegedly received a plaque as one of 2009 America’s Top Financial Planners by the Consumers’ Research Council of America, and has appeared in several books including Pound Foolish and Money for Life. The fee for Maxwell Tailwagger CFP® [a five year old Dachshund] was reported to be $750 with $1,000 for a bold listing. Colorado Securities Commissioner Fred Joseph is reported to have said, “Once again, Max is gaining national notoriety for his astute, and almost superhuman, abilities in the financial arena.”

The only two qualifications for the listing were to pay the fee and not have a complaint against them. In 2009, James Putman, then the NAPFA chairman who touted his own Medical Economics award, was charged by the SEC for securities fraud. NAPFA spokesperson Laura Fisher allegedly opined that “NAPFA no longer promotes the Medical Economics Top Advisors for Doctors list. We felt promoting a list that included stock-brokers was inconsistent with NAPFA’s mission to advance the fee-only profession.” When an advisor name drops an honor to you, congratulate him and then ask how s/he achieved the award. Ask how many nominees versus award recipients there were. What were the criteria for selection and how were they nominated. Ask if they had to pay for the honor, and go online to check out the organization.

Then ask yourself this question: If your financial advisor is buying credibility, do you really want to trust your financial future to him or her?

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dog-nearly-fetches-prestigious-financial-advisor-honor/

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Did the NSA End Obamacare?

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

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Did ambitious NSA officials unintentionally end Obamacare years ago?

[By D. Kellus Pruitt DDS]

1-darrellpruittIf loss of trust in encryption ends Obamacare, can whistleblower Edward Snowden be blamed for that as well? Yep.

What’s even more ominous, the former National Security Agency contractor’s news that encrypted medical records are no longer secure reached Alaska on a weekend.

“Risky electronic health records: Alaska should make information exchange system safer – Imagine: The National Security Agency slips into your doctor’s office and peeks at your medical records,”

by Alaska ACLU executive director Joshua Decker was posted hours ago on Newsminer.com, out of Fairbanks.

http://www.newsminer.com/opinion/community_perspectives/risky-electronic-health-records-alaska-should-make-information-exchange-system/article_a9947eb0-1863-11e3-8153-001a4bcf6878.html

Decker questions the security of the state’s Health Information Exchange (HIE), and offers common sense but costly steps which arguably lessen the danger of privacy breaches – including giving patients the choice of “opting-in” to permit their encrypted, but increasingly vulnerable identities to be shared online via Obamacare’s exchanges.

My POV 

In my opinion, if informed Americans are given the choice of volunteering to risk identity theft, HIEs won’t be around a year from now, and neither will Obamacare. If informed Americans are not given a choice, the costs are even greater. Americans deserve honesty.

National Obamacare Hangs in the Balance

In a related, slow-burning game-changer, Obamacare hangs in the balance, not just for Alaska, but for the nation.

It was September 5th when the Guardian Weekly posted: “Revealed: how US and UK spy agencies defeat internet privacy and security,” written by James Ball, Julian Borger and Glenn Greenwald, and based on top secret NSA information Snowden stole.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/nsa-gchq-encryption-codes-security

Snowden told the Guardian that years ago, the NSA joined with the UK’s spy agency GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) to successfully make encryption obsolete – including for medical records.

Naturally, if properly informed Americans fear that secrets they tell their doctors might be breached, incorrect EHRs become less than worthless. They become dangerous.

More on Health Information Exchanges

What’s more, even before the added expense of waiting for Americans to opt-in to the exchanges – instead of discouraging them from opting-out – the very funding for the increasingly-battered Obamacare is based on a rumor of savings.

Starting years ago, health IT lobbyists, including former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, told lawmakers to expect annual savings of $77 billion and 100,000 lives – quoting the results of a once popular, EHR-friendly 2005 RAND study which was funded by General Electric and Cerner Corporation.

Obamacare

As you can see, while we were not paying attention, we were had!

The RAND Study

Predictably, both GE and Cerner profited immensely from the development and sales of EHR systems before the RAND study was widely discredited months ago – even by RAND.

According to a NY Times article from January, “Cerner’s revenue has nearly tripled since the report was released, to a projected $3 billion in 2013, from $1 billion in 2005.”

(See: “In Second Look, Few Savings From Digital Health Records by Reed Abelson and Julie Creswell, January 10, 2013).

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/11/business/electronic-records-systems-have-not-reduced-health-costs-report-says.html?_r=0

Assessment

Last weekend’s bad news for Obamacare is still under the radar, but I predict within days it will become apparent that the mounting obstacle between President Obama and healthcare reform will be in regaining trust his administration squandered while helping GE and Cerner profits at the expense of soon-to-be pissed off American patients.

Conclusion

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The Healthcare Industry’s Unrecognized Cancer

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

The Untreated Cancer of Health Informatics Leads to Painful and Unrestrained Growth

By D. Kellus Pruitt DDS

A few days ago, Daniel Palestrant MD, Founder of par8o & SERMO, compared the American healthcare system to a patient with cancer.

The clinically blunt article includes a graphic photo of a fresh tumor the size of a cantaloupe, labeled “AMA.” It is appropriately titled, “I Know Cancer When I See It.”

I believe him. What’s more, Dr. Palestrant shows no respect for cancerous growth in healthcare. That’s Hippocratic cool.

http://par8o.com/wordpress/i-know-cancer-when-i-see-it/

I think we all know which presidential candidate’s think tank is to blame for selfishly stimulating metastasis of their harmful information. Like the American Medical Association, the ADA unwittingly developed informatics cancer years ago. Now, a similar, energy-sapping tumor is becoming increasingly difficult for stoic ADA officials to quietly schlepp around.

My Dental Analogy

If one replaces every mention of “AMA” in Dr. Palestrant’s excerpt below with “ADA,” every “CPT® code” with “CDT® code” and every “physician” with “dentist,” his analogy becomes strikingly similar to one I wore out long ago, but without an ugly photo (My apology to Dr. Palestrant):

1. Divert resources – The ADA’s CDT system creates a maze of payment infrastructure and rules that diverts resources to administration and makes transparency impossible.

2. Fool the immune system – The ADA has fooled the American public into believing they represent the opinion of America’s dentists.

3. Self perpetuate – Like a cancer, the ADA perpetuates itself through special interest lobbying, and most importantly, by updating the CDT codes as frequently as possible and forcing the entire dentalcare system to use them.

Assessment

If it weren’t for CDT® copyright royalties, ADA members’ dues would double – undoubtedly causing members to naturally demand better accountability to their patients’ welfare instead of HIT goals even Newt Gingrich abandoned a few months ago.

He’s a smart politician – arguably smarter than dentistry’s embarrassed leaders who own autographed photos of him.

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The Texas Dental Association Board Must Face the Truth

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

More on NPI Numbers

[By D. Kellus Pruitt DDS]

Dear Past TDA Board Members

I have some questions similar to the ones that got me suspended from the TDA a year ago: Who among you can defend your decision to persuade trusting TDA members to volunteer for National Provider Identifier (NPI) numbers?

And, why did you give up on the effort while BCBSTX continues to unfairly force dentists who aren’t even HIPAA covered entities to adopt the identifiers?

If you’re still unaware that everyone can see TDA leaders allowed themselves to be manipulated by stakeholders like BCBSTX, prepare yourself. It won’t be long before at least a few TDA members blame you personally for the bad things I warned would come to dentists with NPI numbers. Since the identifier does nothing to improve the quality of care, its promotion cannot be reconciled with the mission statement of the TDA, leaders. I hope angry dentists throughout the state seek the names of those of you who misled them.

A Non-Profit 

BCBSTX is a non-profit whose handsome profits are paid by taxpayers. The healthcare parasite sells dental insurance to theUSgovernment for federal employees. In their letter to me that I’ve attached, you can see for yourself that along with BCBSTX’s stated refusal to process any of their clients’ dental claims that come from my office, it says in capital letters, “DO NOT FORWARD THIS NOTIFICATION TO THE MEMBER!” How proud does it make you feel to know BCBSTX defines your level of ethics, TDA Board? Two years ago, your Director of Membership censored from the TDA Facebook this dentist’s criticism of BCBSTX’s NPI demands. Sometimes, you bozos are idiots.

I have no contractual relationship with BCBSTX, so as soon as could, I defied BCBSTX’s order and sent their client the letter – making sure to point out that BCBSTX ordered me to keep it secret from her. As you might expect, she’s pissed at BCBSTX! I hope she looks into a class action lawsuit. I bet BCBSTX has been secretly extorting their customers’ dentists by the thousands … but then, do you even care, TDA? What did BCBSTX offer the TDA that caused you to betray dentists and patients who used to have faith in your honesty?

BCBSTX is a Tyrant, and the TDA is an Enabler

There’s more: As a favor to our patients, my office has traditionally called their insurers for coverage information so that those who purchased the dental benefits will know how much of the bill they are responsible for before we start treatment. It’s called transparency.

Today, my office manager informed me that according to alerts she has received from insurers, if I don’t “volunteer” for a National Provider Identifier (NPI) number by 2012, my office will be deprived of the right to product information about BCBSTX’s plans. How does that help anyone, TDA?

Assessment 

Were you aware that this was the purpose of the NPI number when you pushed TDA members to sign up? Do you even care? Because of your silence inTexas’ dental community, it’s really hard to tell.

Conclusion

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Newt Gingrich has his Way with the ADA

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Dentists should be furious with Gingrich for commandeering the ADA

By D. Kellus Pruitt DDS

On This Week roundtable discussion this morning [Sunday], George Will began his comments about Newt Gingrich, now a frontrunner, by saying that he “embodies everything disagreeable about modern Washington.”

Dentists should be furious with not only Gingrich, but with our inattentive dental leaders as well.

Why? 

A couple of days ago, Steve Chapman posted “Gingrich’s corruption” on the ChicagoTribune.com.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chapman/chi-gingrichs-corruption-20111118,0,4581968.story

Chapman writes:

“Conservatives may be able to forgive Newt Gingrich for being an adulterer and for his flip-flops on climate change and mandatory health insurance. They are willing to put those aside because they think he’s shown a fierce attachment to their cause. But, the latest revelations will be harder to digest, because they suggest that his allegiance is for sale.”

He punctuates the condemnation with a quote from USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2011-11-16/newt-gingrich-think-tank-opeds/51246512/1  

“In a series of op-eds stretching over several years, Gingrich repeatedly advocated for various health-care related issues, including electronic health care records, ways to improve the health care sector, and medical malpractice reform without acknowledging the issues were directly connected to members of the Center for Health Transformation, a for-profit think tank he founded in 2003.”

Newt, for a Freddie Mac historian, you’re pretty sly!

According to information that Center for Health Transformation [CHT] spokeswoman Susan Meyers provided USA Today, healthcare stakeholders participating in Gingrich’s “think tank” can expect to pay Gingrich between $5,000 and $200,000, “depending on how many employees attend the center’s meetings and use other services.”

Wouldn’t you just love to ask Ms. Meyers if Gingrich’s think tank members are more likely to realize a return on their investment than their software offers dentists?

I suggested to the editor of the Chicago Tribune to specifically ask ADA President-elect Dr. Robert Faiella questions about the cost and safety of EHRs in dentistry. Then I followed the comment with,

 “And, be sure to tell Dr. Faiella that D. Kellus Pruitt DDS referred you to him. Though we’ve never met, he knows who I am. If you get around to it, you might ask him how much HIPAA compliance raises the cost of dentistry. There are thousands of dentists who would find the President-elect’s answer to that question truly enlightening.”

I Do Find this Fun

Psst…! Chicago Tribune Editor; want a hot tip? I know of a local but far-reaching lead concerning the malignant, corporate corruption described by Steve Chapman in his article. A reporter wouldn’t have to travel far to aggravate employees of a secretive, command and control organization. The ADA National Headquarters is just down the street at 211 East Chicago Avenue. In 2004, the widely-overlooked, not-for-profit’s lack of transparency made it especially vulnerable to Gingrich’s deceptive selling points!

ADA Officials

I think everyone agrees that asking ADA officials reasonable questions about the cost and safety of any high-tech dental product they recommend – including electronic dental record systems – is not unreasonable.

In fact, now that Steve Chapman has shown Newt Gingrich’s profit motives for misleading our dental leaders, caution seems prudent.

This could be ornery-fun if, like me, someone on your staff gets a kick out of asking shy good ol’ boys questions they are hardly ready to answer. I wish the Tribune luck getting past anonymous, unaccountable gatekeepers who shield ADA officials from accountability. I suggest sending your questions to Dr. Robert Faiella. He is not only the unresponsive Chair of the ADA Electronic Health Record Workgroup, but he is the ADA’s latest insensitive President-elect.

Dentists should be furious with Newt Gingrich for commandeering the ADA

Psst…! Chicago Tribune Editor! You interested in another hot tip? I know of a local but potentially far-reaching lead concerning the malignant, corporate corruption described by Steve Chapman in his article exposing Newt Gingrich’s poor manners.

Should you choose to do so, you won’t have to travel far to aggravate employees of a stoic, command and control organization. The national headquarters for the American Dental Association is just down the street at 211 East Chicago Avenue. The widely-forgotten, not-for-profit’s traditional lack of transparency made it especially vulnerable to Gingrich’s deception back in 2004.

I think everyone agrees that asking ADA leaders reasonable questions about the cost and safety of any high-tech dental product they recommend – including electronic dental record systems – is not unreasonable.

In fact, now that Steve Chapman has shown us Newt Gingrich’s motives for misleading our dental leaders, caution seems prudent.

This could be ornery-fun if someone on your staff gets a kick out of asking shy good ol’ boys questions they are not yet ready to answer.

Nevertheless, the ADA will refuse to respond to questions, Editor. Even while I was still a member of the professional organization up until a year ago, it clearly aggravated dental leaders when I repeatedly questioned the cost and safety of EDRs on local, state and national levels of the organization.

I always find evasion intriguing. Maybe you will have better luck getting past anonymous, unaccountable gatekeepers who shield the good ol’ boys from transparency.

Assessment 

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Here’s the official to whom I suggest you futileyly address your questions: Dr. Robert Faiella. He is not only the unresponsive Chair of the ADA Electronic Health Record Workgroup, but he is theADA’s latest insensitive President-elect.

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On the Leadership Shake-Up at the “Clinician’s Report” Foundation

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Paul Child is now the Former CEO of the CR Foundation

[An Exclusive ME-P “Breaking” News Event]

By D. Kellus Pruitt DDS

If you work hard on a righteous pursuit long enough, in spite of what shy people might think of your motives, sometimes you win one for the community.

I wish Dr. Paul Child, former CEO of the Clinician’s Report [CR] Foundation, the best of luck in his new pursuits.

The Exiting CEO [Dr. Paul Child]

In my latest comment on CR Foundation Facebook, I demanded to speak with an anonymous employee’s supervisor because of her unexplained censorship of my three comments – including important questions about EDRs and HIPAA. A few hours ago, that comment was also censored without warning or explanation.

However, in its place I found an announcement that Dr. Child is no longer CEO, and that co-founder Dr. Gordon Christensen himself is taking over the position.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/CR-Foundation/160588080492

The CR Foundation Announcement

“Dr. Paul L. Child Jr., the CEO of Clinicians Report for the last 3-1/2 years, will be leaving CR at the end of 2011 to pursue other interests as he continues his contributions to the dental profession. We wish Paul the best in his new endeavors and are pleased that he will continue to serve CR Foundation as a member of the CR Board of Directors.”

The New CEO [Dr. Gordon J. Christensen]

“Dr. Gordon J. Christensen, the Co-Founder of CR, has been appointed to the position of CEO. He will lead the experienced team of over 400 clinicians in 19 countries and 40 son-site scientists, engineers, and support staff. Additionally, Gordon continues to practice, speak internationally, and provide leadership for needed research in CR.”

Link: http://www.cliniciansreport.org/

That looks to me like a heartfelt apology. I accept.

If any dental leader can be honest with dentists about important, time-sensitive issues nobody else will address it’s Dr. Christensen. He’s a good man with high ideals that don’t include hiding the truth about dental products from dentists in order to shield stakeholders from accountability. 

Assessment 

Now that you’ve witnessed in real time how even one dentist’s voice can improve our community on a national level, why in the hell aren’t you speaking up, Doc?

If your assertiveness is inhibited by traditional notions of “professional conduct,” let me remind you that in Alaska, high school grads are legally extracting large portions of teeth for US citizens who can-least afford complications.

Good luck with silence in a networked marketplace.

Conclusion                

And so, your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Is this new development related to the ME-P titled: In Defense of the eDR Industry?

Link:  https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2011/11/03/in-defense-of-the-edr-industry/

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On Practice-Based Research Networks

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

In Dentistry – if only it were that easy

By D. Kellus Pruitt DDS

I like the concept of a Practice-Based Research Network for teasing out latent miracles from dentalcare data, but I’m afraid any hope of networking success is limited by insurmountable cost and safety concerns of EDRs that few in the dental industry are yet willing to recognize.

Dr. Schleyer 

Titus Schleyer, DMD, PhD, Associate Professor and Director, Center for Dental Informatics, University of Pittsburgh published “The feasibility of an electronic dental practice-based research network” a few days ago.

“The long-term goal of our research is to use data from EDRs to improve patient care and its outcomes. The objective of this project is to develop a generalizable method for extracting EDR data for practice-based clinical research, using Dentrix as the test system.

In our first specific aim, we will determine the utilization of clinical data elements useful for research by practitioners by mining the electronic dental records of 100 Dentrix users and generating summary statistics about patient documentation patterns by data field.

The second specific aim will develop a technical Infrastructure for extracting data from Dentrix and integrating them with manually collected research data. The main outcome of this project will be the electronic Dental Practice-Based Research Network (ePBRN), a generalizable method for extracting clinical data from EDRs and reusing them for practice-based research. This project is a first step in making the increasing amount of electronic clinical data available for improving research, clinical care and patient outcomes.”

-Abstract: September 30, 2011

http://halley.exp.sis.pitt.edu/comet/presentColloquium.do?col_id=2348

I agree with Dr. Schleyer. However, until dentists perceive value in EDRs instead of liabilities, the dreams that he and I share about real-time, evidence-based research on an internet platform will be nothing more than just a cool-sounding fantasy of a handful of geeky dentists hoping to get a better peek at an obscure healthcare niche.

On Transparency 

Transparency in dentistry, rather than NPI numbers, has a better chance of revealing cost-effective solutions for painful and even life-threatening health problems. In addition, nothing is holding down the cost of HIPAA compliance, and data breaches from healthcare facilities – including dental offices – are only becoming more common.

Assessment 

Sidestep liability. De-identify now. If a dentist’s EDR system is breached, yet it contains no Protected Health Information [PHI], who cares?

Conclusion

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Grading Texas Lawmakers on Patient Privacy

Posted on December 13, 2010 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

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Grade Spread Runs Gamut from F to A+

[By D. Kellus Pruitt DDS]

Are the interests of my dental patients in Fort Worth, Texas being adequately represented by their elected officials in Austin and Washington DC? Starting a few months ago, I’ve sent multiple emails concerning patient privacy and identity theft to my elected government officials on state and national levels; as a test of responsiveness.

The Elected Officials

These include:

  • Texas US Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison
  • US Representatives Joe Barton and Michael Burgess
  • Texas State Senators Wendy Davis and Chris Harris
  • Texas State Representatives Diane Patrick and Marc Veasey.

Of the 8 lawmakers I contacted through their Websites, I received no response from state officials Davis, Harris, Patrick and Veasey. However, from my national representation, only Joe Barton failed to reply. I simply have to give those 5 a grade of F. I assumed my state representatives would be more patient-friendly than members of the US Congress. But, I was wrong.

Texas US Senators 

US Senator Cornyn has responded twice: Once in September and again on December 6. In both emails he says,

“Dear Darrell Pruitt,

Thank you for contacting my offices. Your correspondence has been received, and we will respond to you as quickly as possible.”

I suppose there’s still hope for a response, but he also failed. Cornyn also earned an F.

On the other hand, I’m more disappointed with Kay Bailey Hutchison’s staff than John Cornyn’s. In all 3 of her identical responses to my emails, she addresses me as “Dear Friend,” before wasting my time with a vanilla lecture about the origin and intention of the HITECH Act that I can get from HHS:

“The HITECH Act includes privacy and security provisions to expand current requirements under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and strengthens the HIPAA privacy rule, blah, blah, blah.”

If Hutchison’s staff member had read the first paragraph of any of the three emails I sent before he or she assigned me the same canned response all three times, the bonehead would have recognized that an explanation of HIPAA was not what I needed from his or her boss. I’m pretty sure I know more about HIPAA than the Senator, and that is the reason I wrote her in the first place.

Senator Hutchison closed all three emails with,

“I appreciate hearing from you, and I hope that you will not hesitate to contact me on any issue that is important to you. Sincerely, United States Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison”

Then she added,

“PLEASE DO NOT REPLY to this message as this mailbox is only for the delivery of outbound messages, and is not monitored for replies.”

Although I should have known better, following her dead-end reply, I returned to her Website and complimented the Senator for being my patients’ first elected official to respond to my emails. I told Kay Bailey how special her personal attention made me feel as an American… which attracted the same response, which quickly stopped that special feeling. Compared to Hutchison’s predictable responses, Senator Cornyn’s thin promises of a meaningful response some day don’t look so bad. Hutchison gets an F, but I’ll upgrade Cornyn to a D for incomplete.

Enter Dr. Michael Burgess 

And then there is Michael C. Burgess. Compared to this man, everyone else is just a failing politician, in my opinion. Dr. Burgess gets an A+.

In response to both emails I sent to US Representative Michael Burgess MD in the last few weeks, I received sincere, personalized responses. This week, I sent Dr. Burgess a copy of the timely comment I posted Tuesday on this Medical Executive-Post, “Is ‘encryption of PHI’ discussed in dentistry?”

https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2010/12/07/%e2%80%9cthe-ada-practical-guide-to-hipaa-compliance%e2%80%9d/#comment-9242

While Senator Hutchison is unaware that her staff is asleep, and while I’ve been waiting for John Cornyn to get back in touch with me for months, Congressman Burgess’ meaningful and personalized response arrived within 48 hours on Thursday:

Dear Dr. Pruitt:

Thank you for your continued correspondence regarding your concerns for privacy as it relates to health information technologies (HIT). I appreciate hearing from you on this matter.

I assure you that I understand the concerns you have that the implementation of HIT will have harmful effects on patients’ privacy, specifically as it relates to dentistry. As problems arise, I will work closely with the Department of Health and Human Service as well as organized dentistry to make sure that these problems are dealt with quickly and efficiently so that patients continue to receive the rights guaranteed to them in HIPAA.

As one of the few Members of Congress who have run a medical practice and been required to meet HIPAA, I take your concerns to heart and will be vigilant in my oversight.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. I appreciate having the opportunity to represent you in the U.S. House of Representatives. Please feel free to visit my website (www.house.gov/burgess) or contact me with any future concerns.

Sincerely,

Michael C. Burgess, MD

[Member of Congress]

—————————–

So of those 8 elected officials from the Dallas /Ft. Worth area, who you think, I should trust with my patients’ interests next time I vote?  As for my state representatives whom I could run into almost anywhere in my community, they never bothered responding at all.

For months, I’ve emailed Diane Patrick more times than any other lawmaker. Long ago, I assumed that since she is married to a dentist, she might have natural interest in the welfare of dental patients. I was wrong. Even though the Fort Worth District Dental Society supports her campaigns, I have to wonder why?

Assessment 

And as for Marc Veasey, I met the man once, but I don’t think he remembers me. His campaign office is four doors down the hall from me as I type Tip O’Neal’s quote. “All politics is local.”

Conclusion

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Do Passwords Protect the Identity of Patients?

Posted on November 27, 2010 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Essay on eDR and eHR Data Integrity

By D. Kellus Pruitt DDS

“ADA Tip: Password protection is the responsibility of each workforce member. Strong alphanumeric passwords provide a strong defense against unauthorized electronic system intrusion. Passwords that cannot be guessed, that are not publicly posted, and that are changed on a regular basis will help your practice avoid the occurrence of security incidents.”

– 2010 ADA Practical Guide to HIPAA Compliance, Chapter 4, page 26.

Not So Fast, ADA 

I read a recent article on lifehacker.com titled “How to Break into a Windows PC (And Prevent It from Happening to You).” The unnamed author tells a different story.

http://lifehacker.com/5674972/how-to-break-into-a-windows-pc-and-prevent-it-from-happening-to-you

Running on Windows®  

Apparently, if a healthcare provider’s office computer runs on Windows and it is not encrypted, password protection is worse than ineffective security. Passwords are false security. If lifehacker.com is correct, all a dishonest employee needs to download thousands of patient identities to sell for a few hundred bucks is a Linux CD and 10 minutes of snuggle-time with an office terminal.

What’s more, it is unlikely that if the thief will ever be caught if he or she sports common sense. Months or years following the silent heist, the doctor could learn of a rash of neighborhood identity thefts from a federal investigator with a badge – waiting in the reception room for the doc’s next break between patients. Please remember this gaping hole in security the next time a HIT stakeholder like the ADA assures Americans that HIPAA is swell protection from identity theft. HIPAA empowers identity theft. The amendments to the 1996 Rule in 2002 gave too much away to campaign contributors, in my opinion.

About De-identification 

Now then; since you’ve made it this far, is anyone ready to consider a different path to the benefits of electronic dental records? It’s called de-identification. My goal has always been to stimulate open discussion of de-identifying dental records because it is so common sense to remove fuses from bombs. In 5 years, I’ve had very little success attracting sincere discussion about de-identification other than privately. Nevertheless, over the years I entertained an adequate amount of ridicule that stopped a few months ago. Like Charlie Brown and his persevering faith in the Great Pumpkin, I’m resolute.

HIPPA Data-Breach Liability 

Physicians might not be able to get away with sidestepping HIPAA and data-breach liability using de-identification because it is so easy to re-identify owners of medical records. And insurance company CEOs who don’t know the difference between cost control and quality control will fight de-identification of dental records before giving up the exclusive right to bend proprietary algorithms toward bonuses.

Here Comes the Pitch!  

Is America interested in better dental care through a transparent 2.0 platform that incentivizes value-based competition for dental patients instead of paid ads? I have a better solution than HIPAA: Drop the PHI identifiers from dental records and store volatile health histories on one or two well-guarded flash drives. It’s that simple. Want to see miracle discoveries in dentistry? Offer the boring but safe raw, de-identified dental data to anyone who cares to perform Evidence-Based Dental research. Interoperability will still be incredibly tedious and expensive, but at least the effort won’t be doomed by dangerous and expensive HIPAA regulations.

Assessment

So how about it? Imagine the incentives for self-improvement if dentists could privately compare their treatment results with competitors’ – without risk of harming their patients or practices – on an “opt-in” basis rather than a mandated fantasy of a “pay-for-performance” [P4P] model run by stakeholders with investors to answer to. If our grandchildren are to benefit from unbiased Evidence-Based Dental research mined from facts rather than manicured dental claims, passwords won’t allow them a return on ARRA investment and encryption is just one more layer of expensive and futile complication.

Conclusion

Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

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