[nyarlathotep]

HIPAA means a little more than that. I spent years as a pharmacy technician and can attest to all the shredding, blacking out of names, etc. Disclosing PHI (Personal Health Information) without a reasonable need for it was a very serious offense. HIPAA also forces providers to give you access to all of the PHI related to you that they maintain. Obviously HIPAA doesn't solve patient privacy entirely, as in your fax tray example, but I like to think it does help.