The database that you and a few others claim to be this pervasive evil all-encompassing national thing isn’t that. It is OPT-IN (that means participation is OPTIONAL), and limited in scope to people who are applying for private insurance. Your EMR does NOT automagically send every chart note/lab test/Rx/etc. to this database. Information is shared from your EMR AT YOUR REQUEST when you apply for private insurance.
Only your providers have access to the full chart, at least from a user perspective. Obviously there are numbers of folks who manage and support the EMR systems that have back-end access to everything in a particular EMR database and there are extensive safeguards/auditing to make sure those people are not looking at charts that do not need manual intervention to correct an error of some sort. I have personally witnessed several incidents where auditors called support staff in for questioning when it was discovered that they had accessed the EMR while performing necessary maintenance tasks.
I can assure you that the clerk you meet when you stop at the registration desk for a medical appointment does not have free and unfettered access to your medical record. They have access to REG/SCHED and maybe to billing, but they are not getting into your chart period.
Do yourself and everyone else on this thread a favor - the next time you have a medical appointment ask the registration clerk if he/she/it can access RESULTS in your chart and report back here with the answer you were given.
So low level clerk was able to access information not only on another net work but in another state for minor child.
I am still sorry if reality bothers you.
But yes. Low level clerks can access your medical records.