Who is listening?

I once was in a doctor’s office for a normal prenatal check-up.  I was horrified, however, when I heard the nurse’s answer on a telephone call she received right outside my door.  Not only was I surprised to realize I could hear her, I was surprised that there was a phenomenon, previously unknown to me, I might suffer from after delivering a child.  I was a little overwhelmed with mental images and got a little dizzy.  I was mere weeks away from delivering.

What are other people hearing?

In that specific situation, I was hit with the stark reality that medical (and what I always assumed was private) information obtained on the phone or in the office is not at all private.  When I pour my postnatal hormonal feelings out in my doctor’s office, I want the comfort on knowing she was the only one who heard me.  I don’t want to look over my shoulder, wondering if anyone in the waiting room or adjacent office heard me.

HIPAA is in place to safeguard such information, but it doesn’t force doctors to implement any acoustic treatments like sound masking to further guard our medical records.  However, I love my doctor and would like to keep seeing her.  I just wish she would value me as much as I value her.