[FairWitness]

Some of these group sessions would be a great idea, but new HIPAA regulations protecting patient privacy will eliminate any discussion of anyones existing condition in a group setting.

Good point - does the law allow for a "waiver" to be signed by the patient to get around this?

[Taliesan]

It doesn't matter whether the law has a waiver or not. The legal exposure is still there, since a plaintiff can claim they simply didn't understand the waiver.

There is huge legal exposure in a group visit, and not just from privacy concerns. Can you imagine 10 patients talking at once?

Now imagine one of them comes down with a malignancy a year later, and claims he mentioned that nagging cough in the group setting but it must have gone unnoticed in the hubbub.

You think this is far-fetched? Not at all. Think like a trial lawyer. I manage physicians. They will do group visits over my dead body.