This show must have been before HIPAA, the way Dr. Hartley casually discusses his patients with Emily and maybe others. Could not do that nowadays.
shareYes, this was before HIPAA, which was passed my congress in 1996. I work in medical and just love watching the show and thinking about the lack of federal privacy laws, no electronic charting etc.
shareI would discuss patients with my wife. Any normal person would.
shareany normal person wouldn't think that was unethical anyway.
shareI assume that most professionals would at least do their best to go along with the *spirit* of the law -- i.e., they'd make a good-faith effort to keep from embarrassing anyone. If they thought it wouldn't go any further than their spouse, they'd probably talk about some of the interesting cases, though perhaps without mentioning names.
I've never been any kind of therapist, but once in my twenties I created what could have been a horribly embarrassing situation. I had told a friend about something really stupid that someone they didn't know had done. Later on, though, the three of us somehow happened to be together, and the friend innocently repeated the story to the very person it was about. I didn't know if that person recognized the incident, but I casually said, "Oh, right, someone I knew in college" -- which was a lie, but hopefully saved both of them from any major embarrassment.
I've tried to be a bit more discrete since then, which is easier now because most of my "stories" occurred when I lived somewhere else.