Question About Carriers "Right to Know" our Medical Info

[BadOrderKing]

We recently had several investigations concerning lost work days. Some of the guys who missed days had doctor's excuses for the time lost. Like it mattered, they got put under the heat lamp just the same.

An employee asked me last night if the carrier should have been demanding that he tell them exactly why he went to the dr and what treatment he received. I asked him if the union rep objected to these questions and he told me that our rep did not spend much time with it. I, and him too, assume that if the rep did not object then it must be legal to force an employee to give out his patient-Dr information.

Is this legal? Do we have to disclose all of our current medical information to company officials, if it does not pertain to our ability to perform our work?

btw: this was not exactly hospital stays. Just ordinary sicknesses that required a single missed day.

[gsxr1000mxz800]

we run into issues with this constantly. a person calls crew mismanagement and marks off sick. in the conversation with the caller the person will say something like oh i hurt my back cutting wood, or strained my back roofing my house or so on. of course this is on a recoreded line and then the caller will notify a trainmaster who in turn pulls the employee out of service until they get a return to work physical. our medical department moves at a speed that they want and answer to no one. i formerly had one connection who could get a person marked up in the medical department but she retired. while the guys may have just fatigued themselves doing stuff they dont normally do they put the carrier in a defensive position by telling them that something had been hurt.

another thing to remember is if you ever get hurt seriously at work and a claim comes out against the railroad your medical records could or will be subpoened. in them records your doctor writes EVERYTHING YOU SAY TO THEM. and our medical department will comb them with a fine tooth comb looking for previous injuries that you have that could be what you are claiming now or injuries you never listed on the physical paperwork we take every 3 to 5 years.

as to why they are asking why a guy went to the dr makes me believe you have a person who marks off often and constantly has excuses. i could be wrong but i have seen enough of the game to know the true issues. however if the person is really sick with something like cancer, or a disease that needs treatment it can be beneficial for them to disclose it to a supervisor as they will be more leniant in allowing time off without scheduling investigations to find out why the employee is missing so much work.

[jonnyseeandoh]

I certainly clued the company in with my return to work info as to the nature of my absence. I volunteered that info by giving it to them, but they could not have obtained it independently for I have never given them a hippa form permitting them same. Court orders are another thing, but mine was not an on duty injury.

[railsnail]

HIPPA does not allow ANYONE access to your records. Court orders may be a different thing. If they railroad obtains your medical records without your consent or obtaining more than they were given access to you more than likely have a lawsuit against them and the medical offices that screwed up by giving it to them.

[BadOrderKing]

Originally Posted by gsxr1000mxz800

as to why they are asking why a guy went to the dr makes me believe you have a person who marks off often and constantly has excuses. i could be wrong but i have seen enough of the game to know the true issues. however if the person is really sick with something like cancer, or a disease that needs treatment it can be beneficial for them to disclose it to a supervisor as they will be more leniant in allowing time off without scheduling investigations to find out why the employee is missing so much work.

January first of this year we had a new attendance policy take effect. One that only allows one unexcused day per calender quarter. Last year, this guy did take advantage of laying off. However, this year has been a different story. He has been off three times, all excused by a Dr. So yes, he is a "targeted" man.

[Rico Suave]

One other thing to keep in mind. Don't EVER sign anything with out reading it in it's entirety. Repeatedly if necessary.

A brother signed a release for records about a recent surgery, or so he thought. What he in fact signed was a release of his entire medical history. He never worked another day.

Don't fall in to this trap. Read it first! If you don't understand it, get someone else to read it and explain it to you.

There is no limit to the treachery these people will sink to in order to make you go away.

Rico

[sameguy]

A lawyers rep came to a UTU meeting and handed out a paper that we are supposed to give to our doctor stating specifically that they are NOT to give the RR ANY medical records or info without our written consent. This came about because they had a client that was hurt on the job & filed a PI report. The carrier dug through his medical records and found that he had been to a mental health provider prior to working for the RR. Apparently it was a marriage counselor but that didn't matter. At some point, probably in some pre-employment paperwork he stated that he had never had mental health services. They fired him for dishonesty and denied his PI on the grounds that he should have been fired when he filled out that paperwork, 20+ years prior. He is fighting it, but hes still out of work till that gets settled. Oh yea, the rep also said that there is NO case against the doctor who gave out this guys medical records without his permission. There might be a case if he had paperwork in his file stating that they were NOT to give out any info but he didn't have anything like that.

[throttle]

Here is the thing.
Like Rico said, make sure you read it and read it and read it. never be ashamed to admit you don't understand what you are reading!!!!!

The carrier is only entitled to view your history pertaining to your current event. So if you have back surgery, they are only entitled to the medical information about your back and any other medical treatment/advice/review that was involved in this.

Now, if you are injured on the job, then you fall under a completely different setup. The carrier has full rights to your history, although this has been disputed in certain cases and they have been restricted, but don't believe that it will be the case if it happens to you.

[throttle]

Originally Posted by sameguy

A lawyers rep came to a UTU meeting and handed out a paper that we are supposed to give to our doctor stating specifically that they are NOT to give the RR ANY medical records or info without our written consent. This came about because they had a client that was hurt on the job & filed a PI report. The carrier dug through his medical records and found that he had been to a mental health provider prior to working for the RR. Apparently it was a marriage counselor but that didn't matter. At some point, probably in some pre-employment paperwork he stated that he had never had mental health services. They fired him for dishonesty and denied his PI on the grounds that he should have been fired when he filled out that paperwork, 20+ years prior. He is fighting it, but hes still out of work till that gets settled. Oh yea, the rep also said that there is NO case against the doctor who gave out this guys medical records without his permission. There might be a case if he had paperwork in his file stating that they were NOT to give out any info but he didn't have anything like that.

I'm sure he had NO issue getting a lawyer to handle this case, as if he proves it was a marital issue, then the railroad is hosed. Although, in the meantime he is out a bunch of money, but the windfall if it goes to trial over it..... (that is if its handled outside the union which I've seen happen)

[BadOrderKing]

The biggest problem we have goes much deeper than this one round of investigations. Sadly, it may be too late and precedent has been set.

When this policy went into effect, NO ONE understood the policy. Still dont.
Like many other issues, if you asked three supervisors, you got three different answers. They even stated things that were obviously not even in writing.
I drew up an entire page of questions about this one policy and let others look at it. Everyone had the same questions. However, when it came time to stand up, I was standing alone.
When a sheet was passed around to be signed, the top simply stated that we had "received" a copy of the new policy. A lot of guys, myself included, wrote "I do not understand" beside our signature. Obviously, no one noticed as it got filed.