Do DOT/Companies have access to medical records?

No U would have to sign a release for them to have that info

 

No. But if you get one and then get popped for a sleep study they will make you go through one and then make you buy another cpap. When you tell then you have one, then you would be asked why you lied on your dot card.

 

No, your medical information is protected by HIPAA. You're right to be wary sharing this information. If a provider suggests a sleep study it is just that, a suggestion. If you have a sleep study done i would imagine that the assumption is you feel you have a problem and then it becomes a NHSTA requirement if the suggestion is CPAP treatment. Now your stuck limiting yourself to companies with APU's or liberal idle policies.

Obviously if you have issues with sleep quality get it addressed or you'll only be a danger to yourself or others. Just because you snore like a Grizzly fighting a chainsaw and you annoy your wife doesn't mean squat.

 

No it is not. There is a dot exemption right in the law, it covers truckers as much as pilots.

 

It probably is. While you are correct in that FMCSA regulations does exempt drivers from HIPPA, HIPPA is law while FMCSA just has regulations. As the supreme court showed a couple months ago (again) that law trumps regulations when there is a conflict. Heck, even FMCSA suggests to get a signed waiver for physicals so the company can see the results.

And that's really the kicker. Every physical I've ever done requires that waiver. Of course I've never paid for my own, so...

 

I don't know the answer to this, but HIPAA protects your information from being distributed outside the health care world. A DOT examiner is engaged in the health care industry, and with the patient records as accessible as they are today. It would not surprise me if that examiner can access those records, nor would it surprise me if that would be inside the standard medical care exemption. I'd love to find out for sure.

 

Company pays for their drivers usually gets a long form copy......

 

HIPAA protects your medical records. Period. Inside or outside of healthcare it doesn't matter. There are plenty of settlements and terminations for cause where someone even within healthcare accessed (all logged in Epic and Cerner) someone else's medical records without a legitimate need.

You can sign a waiver if you would like and give all of your personal medical information to the company you drive for or anyone else for that matter it's your right to sign that waiver. I would bet some employers even ask for permission as a requirement for hire. The legality of that might be pretty suspect i expect. Do you really trust that mega carrier x would hire a 40+ driver with maladies & family over a 20 or 30 something with less "overhead?" I don't it's just business. Before anyone brings up the legality of employers doing that research age discrimination in the hiring process. It's well documented.

I chose to go to a private doctors office as the $85 fee is cheaper than our health insurance with a lot less wait. After answering the providers questions truthfully and honestly they selected the box that states based upon their training and experience as a Licensed and Qualified Certified Medical Examiner that they found me qualified under the Federal Motor Carrier Regulations yadda yadda.

Medical Examiners Certificate signed, dated, license number and national registry number of provider noted. Hired.

I promise you the small private doctors office doesn't have the crazy expensive Epic/Cerner software. That's part of the reason it was $85 instead of the $380 quoted for our 2 local healthcare systems.

 

Have you been diagnosed with sleep apnea?

If not but you'd like to try out a cpap to determine if it's right for you then it's nobody's business but your own.

If you've been diagnosed with sleep apnea then you are required to disclose it when asked during your DOT medical card renewal.