legality of forcing someone to do something that makes them uncomfortable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:P.S. I'd be taken aback if my doctor's office asked this of me. How can any of us assume a Medicare patient would not?

Why? Your race is about as personal as your eye color. Anyone can see it as soon as they look at you and it's neither good or bad. Just is.

NP here. What is this, 1950? You can't always tell someone's race by looking at them. Mybrother looks white but he's black. And so many people are of mixed races these days.

If he looks white then what makes him black? Serious question. What IS race in 2012 and what exactly does it mean, especially since the mixed-race population is growing fast.

Signed, white mom of mixed-race kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - MY fault, I should have had my friend read the post before I put it on. According to her, her real problem is that her boss said she cannot put refused to respond when asking race and whether someone is hispanic or not (those are the 2 questions she is uncomfortable with). So if a patient refuses to answer, she has to either get them to give an answer or worry about being in trouble for not complying with what he wants. Don't know if that changes how people feel.

Her boss has no need to know if Joe is White or Black Hispanic or if Gene refuses to give a race. Unless he is looking up health related conditions/issues specific to the Black community for his 9:00, why does it matter if his 9:00 is Black, White or Asian?

[Anonymous]

How about if she leaves it blank and not ask on the phone. Then get the info when the patient shows up? Because the person is not a patient until s/he shows up, right?

[Anonymous]

Op here. To clarify 2 things 1. It is an office manage,not a doctor or anyone with a medical degree. 2. Pp, she was doing that as it is part of the form required at check in (I'm a patient there) but her boss insists on all that information when the appointment is made, not when they show up. On a side note, the answers do not account for someone who is mixed and would require someone to choose which race they identify with if he is not allowing unreported answers. I also found the question if whether or not the patient was Hispanic to be weird. But those last 2 points are just my own opinion after having to fill out the forms recently.

[Anonymous]

The problem isn't that the boss is forcing your friend to do something that makes her uncomfortable, the point is that the boss is holding your friend accountable for something she cannot do: force other people to give her information if they choose not to.

I am fairly confident that whatever larger Medicare data-collecting initiative this is part of clearly specifies that collecting this information should not be a barrier to healthcare. I do not think the medical office has the right to deny an appointment or services if the patient refuses to give his or her race.

Therefore, I doubt your friend has any leverage to force people to give her this information, so what does her boss expect?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. To clarify 2 things 1. It is an office manage,not a doctor or anyone with a medical degree. 2. Pp, she was doing that as it is part of the form required at check in (I'm a patient there) but her boss insists on all that information when the appointment is made, not when they show up. On a side note, the answers do not account for someone who is mixed and would require someone to choose which race they identify with if he is not allowing unreported answers. I also found the question if whether or not the patient was Hispanic to be weird. But those last 2 points are just my own opinion after having to fill out the forms recently.

OP, I would venture to say that this boss is venturing into racial discrimination territory. Why does he need to know this information over the phone if the person will be filling out paperwork once they arrive? What's with his obsession over Hispanic and his not allowing for a Biracial category?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:P.S. I'd be taken aback if my doctor's office asked this of me. How can any of us assume a Medicare patient would not?

Why? Your race is about as personal as your eye color. Anyone can see it as soon as they look at you and it's neither good or bad. Just is.

NP here. What is this, 1950? You can't always tell someone's race by looking at them. Mybrother looks white but he's black. And so many people are of mixed races these days.

If he looks white then what makes him black? Serious question. What IS race in 2012 and what exactly does it mean, especially since the mixed-race population is growing fast.

Signed, white mom of mixed-race kid

Just to prove your point. Member of the Congressional Black Caucus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._K._Butterfield

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. To clarify 2 things 1. It is an office manage,not a doctor or anyone with a medical degree. 2. Pp, she was doing that as it is part of the form required at check in (I'm a patient there) but her boss insists on all that information when the appointment is made, not when they show up. On a side note, the answers do not account for someone who is mixed and would require someone to choose which race they identify with if he is not allowing unreported answers. I also found the question if whether or not the patient was Hispanic to be weird. But those last 2 points are just my own opinion after having to fill out the forms recently.

OP, I would venture to say that this boss is venturing into racial discrimination territory. Why does he need to know this information over the phone if the person will be filling out paperwork once they arrive? What's with his obsession over Hispanic and his not allowing for a Biracial category?

Interesting point. Obviously I dont know him first hand, but she has told me how he's had derogatory terms towards gays and people on Medicare. Who knows. I think I'lll call her tonight and help her brush up her resume lol

[Anonymous]

woops OP here, I mean Masshealth (the state plan for low income people). She's located in Mass

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:P.S. I'd be taken aback if my doctor's office asked this of me. How can any of us assume a Medicare patient would not?

Why? Your race is about as personal as your eye color. Anyone can see it as soon as they look at you and it's neither good or bad. Just is.

NP here. What is this, 1950? You can't always tell someone's race by looking at them. Mybrother looks white but he's black. And so many people are of mixed races these days.

You can tell the race more often than not. But you are missing the point. To me asking for a social security number, which no one is actually required to give to the doctor, is more personal, than asking what race I am.

Not the PP, but you're the one missing the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:P.S. I'd be taken aback if my doctor's office asked this of me. How can any of us assume a Medicare patient would not?

Why? Your race is about as personal as your eye color. Anyone can see it as soon as they look at you and it's neither good or bad. Just is.

NP here. What is this, 1950? You can't always tell someone's race by looking at them. Mybrother looks white but he's black. And so many people are of mixed races these days.

If he looks white then what makes him black? Serious question. What IS race in 2012 and what exactly does it mean, especially since the mixed-race population is growing fast.

Signed, white mom of mixed-race kid

You're an ass. I'm not the PP, but if she says her brother is black, why do you have to question why he looks white? What makes him black is that he probably identifies as black. Maybe he has two black parents or maybe just one is black.

If he has looks phenotypically white, perhaps he has a large white admixture, but racial identification is about a whole lot more than percentages. If it were just about percentages, lots of people would be kicked out of the "black" race and lots of people would be kicked out of the "white" race. Maybe you don't get that because you're a member of the dominant race in Western society.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. To clarify 2 things 1. It is an office manage,not a doctor or anyone with a medical degree. 2. Pp, she was doing that as it is part of the form required at check in (I'm a patient there) but her boss insists on all that information when the appointment is made, not when they show up. On a side note, the answers do not account for someone who is mixed and would require someone to choose which race they identify with if he is not allowing unreported answers. I also found the question if whether or not the patient was Hispanic to be weird. But those last 2 points are just my own opinion after having to fill out the forms recently.

OP, I would venture to say that this boss is venturing into racial discrimination territory. Why does he need to know this information over the phone if the person will be filling out paperwork once they arrive? What's with his obsession over Hispanic and his not allowing for a Biracial category?

Interesting point. Obviously I dont know him first hand, but she has told me how he's had derogatory terms towards gays and people on Medicare. Who knows. I think I'lll call her tonight and help her brush up her resume lol

Sounds like he is using this information in a way that is not professional but to back-up his racist ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:P.S. I'd be taken aback if my doctor's office asked this of me. How can any of us assume a Medicare patient would not?

Why? Your race is about as personal as your eye color. Anyone can see it as soon as they look at you and it's neither good or bad. Just is.

NP here. What is this, 1950? You can't always tell someone's race by looking at them. Mybrother looks white but he's black. And so many people are of mixed races these days.

If he looks white then what makes him black? Serious question. What IS race in 2012 and what exactly does it mean, especially since the mixed-race population is growing fast.

Signed, white mom of mixed-race kid

The US constitution. If you're going to raise a "mixed-race" kid you need to learn the history. Signed black mommie off mixed race white looking kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - MY fault, I should have had my friend read the post before I put it on. According to her, her real problem is that her boss said she cannot put refused to respond when asking race and whether someone is hispanic or not (those are the 2 questions she is uncomfortable with). So if a patient refuses to answer, she has to either get them to give an answer or worry about being in trouble for not complying with what he wants. Don't know if that changes how people feel.

Simple. Make shit up!!!

No seriously. That is a whole different can of beans. What does he expect her to do? If they don't want to say, they don't want to say!

Exactly everybody should be on color one day, and another the next. And when she has another job that last day they should all be skittles color

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:P.S. I'd be taken aback if my doctor's office asked this of me. How can any of us assume a Medicare patient would not?

Why? Your race is about as personal as your eye color. Anyone can see it as soon as they look at you and it's neither good or bad. Just is.

U really cannot be that ignorant that you think u know someone's race just by looking at them...
U can guess...but you don't know for sure...
How people identify and their racial background is very personal....not necessarily something u can assume by someone's skin color or hair texture.
Some questions are tricky...that's why u put that information on forms...
Don't ask my race or my sexual history on the phone -- bad practice.
I would find another doctor if this was asked of me.

1) Perhaps some spelling lessons would be in order.
2) I completely disagree that race is something personal. It's about as personal as your shoe size.
3) Your race and your sexual history are like apples and tornado. They are so different that i don't even know how you managed to lump them together in your head. No, no one should be asking you about your sexual history over the phone. that IS personal. Your race is in plain view for everyone to see and there is nothing personal about it.

bullshit- signed black mommie to a blue eyed straight blond haired cherub

Uhm, which part???

The plain view part