Clooney and HIPAA

When ER-veteran George Clooney landed in an actual ER after a motorcycle crash last month, the last thing on his mind, no doubt, was the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Known by the far catchier nickname HIPAA, the federal regulation is what’s behind those lengthy privacy forms your doctor has been making you sign every now and then for the past several years.

HIPAA, a notorious tangle of bureaucracy for the health care industry, not surprisingly was omitted from the flashy, action-packed world of medicine depicted in the hour-long NBC drama for which Clooney is best known.

But now that more than two dozen employees of Palisades Medical Center in New York have been suspended for violating the actor’s HIPAA-given rights to privacy after his biking spill, the actor seems to have become the face of a privacy regulation many Americans likely have never heard of.

The hospital employees were suspended for peeking into the actor’s medical records without permission, a HIPAA violation.

And now Clooney is appearing on various gossip and entertainment blogs and Web sites commenting about the incident. I’d say it’s a safe bet this is the first time HIPAA has been mentioned on TMZ.com or E! News online.

"While I very much believe in a patient’s right to privacy, I would hope that this could be settled without suspending medical workers," the actor said in a statement.

One key question remains — how many times will gossip columnists and bloggers misspell the acronym HIPAA in the next few days? (The Daily Record already has received one e-mailed news release on the Clooney debacle with the word "HIPPA" in the subject line.)

-KAREN BUCKELEW, Business Writer

Blawging 101?

Kevin O'Keefe published an interesting how-to post on law blogging (or "blawging," for those of you on the up-and-up).

He pushes finding a niche for your blog, stressing the importance of being an authoritative figure on a specific subject to get noticed by other bloggers and the media.

An excerpt from “Real Lawyers Have Blogs”:

Blog on a general topic or worse yet, a number of topics and you'll have those bloggers and reporters looking for a niche blogger to cite or quote.

Prospective clients are the same. They are looking for an expert.

To our visitors who are attorneys: I know many of you do have your own blogs. Are Kevin's theories correct? Did you find that a niche was imperative to blogging success? What's your motivation for publishing your own blog?

-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor

Don't go breakin' your crayons

The Boston Globe has a fun piece on teen slang, and how it's encouraged by Web sites like UrbanDictionary.com.

If you haven't heard what makes a person "agnorant" and don't know that "gnar" is simply the evolved (and more succinct) form of "gnarly," educate yourself.

And let us know your favorites (or the most absurd).

Mine? "Bluetool," which refers to someone with a perpetual Bluetooth in his ear, even if he's not on the phone (... don't look at me!!). I also love "check your vitals," which is to catch up on your favorite sites and email.

-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor

A "quiet" veto?

Ever since President Bush's controversial veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP), an expansion for children's health insurance, critics and talk show hosts have delighted in forecasting what impact this will have on the 2008 presidential campaign.

The AP story on our Web site begins:

President Bush rejected a politically attractive expansion of children's health insurance, triggering a fierce struggle with the Democratic-controlled Congress certain to reverberate into the 2008 elections.

"Congress will fight hard to override President Bush's heartless veto," vowed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, Comedy Central's coveted "fake" news shows, took aim at the decision in their broadcasts this week. (Click here to watch a clip of Colbert's segment, which uses clever video editing and child actors to have children "question" politicians about SCHIP.)

Now WebMD has jumped into the fray, providing a new feature that compares head-to-head the candidates' campaign promises on health care. (To save you a trip, most Dems' positions read: "Supports universal coverage" while most Republicans' positions state: "Believes answers to health care problems should be found in the private sector.")

Mitt Romney, however, has stated he wants to place the burden to reduce health care costs on the individual states and their insurance markets.

Anyone out there agree with either the veto or the emphasis on individual states? We'd love to hear from you.

-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor

The names are in (and there are a lot of 'em)

Looks like 29 people want Judge James Kenney III's spot on the Court of Special Appeals.

The full list of applicants' names - from Barber, Claudia to Zuber, Phillip - is posted on our Web site.

We'll have to wait until late November to hear which were chosen by the Appellate Judicial Nominating Commission for Gov. O'Malley's consideration.

Any surprises here?

-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor

Home prices: Everything is relative

I've written several posts on this blog about real estate, especially in Montgomery and Howard counties, where many homes are high-ticket items.

One of my morning email alerts pointed me to Housing Tracker, a site that estimates the inventory of homes available in major cities. It also breaks down median sales prices and shows the prices in the 25th and 75th percentile.

According to the site, there are 11,994 homes available in Baltimore (everywhere from Aberdeen to Arbutus to Ellicott City) at the moment, for a median price of $249,900. The 25th percentile is $159,999; the 75th is $359,997.

In Washington, the inventory's similar (12,805) but the 25th percentile is significantly higher - $300,000. The median jumps to $399,950, and the 75th percentile is $569,000. That means a quarter of homes in the Washington region cost more than $570,000.

If you don't believe me, check it out for yourself.

-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor

Appellate applications due today

This afternoon at 4:30 is the deadline for applicants who want to be considered for the Court of Special Appeals seat vacated by Judge James A. Kenney III when he turned 70 last March. Kenney’s seat is at large, meaning it is not tied to a particular region of the state. That means the Appellate Judicial Nominating Commission (PDF) will likely receive applications from appellate court aspirants from all over.

After the commission receives the applications, it will start reviewing them and interviewing applicants. It will meet Nov. 29 to decide which hopefuls are qualified enough to have their names forwarded to the governor.

The commission is pretty busy these days; just a few weeks ago it met to decide which names to forward for Judge Alan M. Wilner’s former seat. No word yet on when the committee will begin accepting applications for Judge Dale R. Cathell’s old seat.

-CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer

Law ditties rock

My story today, “First-year pain, third-year gain,” is about a third-year law student at University of Maryland who turned the trauma of his first year into a clever, catchy song that law students everywhere can relate to.

But I found, in trolling through YouTube for the story, that Owen Jarvis (at right) isn’t a class of one when it comes to putting legalese to music (although his song is still my favorite).

Jumane Redway penned the “Gross Income Song” after his University of Oregon tax law professor mentioned to her Federal Income Tax class that it was her dream to hear a tax rap song. The song is more R&B than rap, but the tune wins over Professor Nancy Shurtz in the video.

Kansas City patent lawyer Lana Knedlik wrote “Bar Date,” a foot-tapping, double-entendre-filled tune about looking for a dream-woman on the singles scene — “It’s so obvious to me/ her novelty… Should I appeal my case/ to make her mine?” (Hat tip to patent-law blawg Patently-O.)

Now that I’m sufficiently brainwashed, all I can think about is writing a song called “Jurisdiction,” sung to the tune of “The Inquisition,” the low-ball-humor song from actor/director Mel Brooks’ History of the World, Part I.

Thanks to online rhyming dictionaries, I’ve come up with:

Jurisdiction, where to go?
Jurisdiction, yes we know.
Let’s file a motion, to get this case removed…

We’re gonna go to district court.
We’re gonna end this pesky tort
No triable issues that they can refute!

If you were to write a song about law, what would inspire you?

-LIZ FARMER, Legal Affairs Writer

Law blog round-up, 10/8

Happy Monday! Things are a bit slow on the blawg front today, maybe because of the Columbus Day holiday, but here are a few law links for you:

Ron Miller at the Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog has a post on the proposed changes to Maryland’s attorney trust account rules. The Court of Appeals is going to consider this at a public meeting on Dec. 3.

Supreme Court justices: they’re just like us! The always-insightful Volokh Conspiracy has a funny little post about the release party for Clarence Thomas’ new book.

Carolyn Elefant, who evangelizes about the benefits of going solo at her blog My Shingle, has a post about striking out on your own, then returning to big-firm life when you’ve established yourself.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner has a nice essay at Ms. JD about those Working Mother rankings of the best law firms for women. The Massachusetts judge argues that even the best firms are not doing a good enough job of keeping and promoting women.

-CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer

All aboard the blogging train

If it seems like you can't avoid blogs in every shape and size these days, you're still bound to be flabbergasted by the latest company to take to the blogosphere: Wicanders Cork Oak Flooring.

The Portuguese company, which has a North American office in Hanover, Md., launched a blog late last month about the enticing world of flooring.

I'm willing to concede that even a lackluster subject -- not to imply that cork oak floors aren't shiny -- can lend itself to a great blog with the right participants.

Sadly, this one only has two posts and one comment -- from an employee at Annapolis-based The Souza Agency, which represents Wicanders. If you believe him, though, the cork oak floors have been a life-changing experience.

I did a quick net search for other Maryland-based companies with multimedia offerings. UnderArmour has ads available for download onto an iPod, and instant messenger icons. STX Lacrosse has a couple blogs authored by lacrosse players, though they haven’t been updated in months.

Any other local web “goodies” out there we should know about?

-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor

Note: The links vanished on me, but they're back. Sorry!