As a physician and psychoanalyst, I am especially concerned about the issue of access to the sensitive, extremely personal material that my patients communicate to me.
Confidentiality is essential to any mental health professional's work.
It is of note that the only place in the United States that offers protection from this dangerous and unacceptable invasion of privacy is the District. Here, the Mental Health Information Act forbids the transmission of patient records to third-party payers. Ironically, the one exception to those protected by this act are employees using federal health insurance programs.