Re: Here we go again
"The way you work it - indeed the only way you can work it - is that you specify how certain types of customer data must be kept and secured and audited."
And I think the problem lies in that, while it's all well and good to demand this and that, what happens when "this and that" interferes with your operations, sometimes to the extent that your future as a going concern is in jeopardy? Data demands can change, often overlap, and can have deadlines. This is especially true in the medical profession where you are simultaneously pulled by time, money, and regulatory demands with lives on the line. Trying to impose conditions on something as complicated as, say, a major hospital, tends to result in entanglement.
Going back to your examples, a health claim person WOULD need access to the social security number if the insurance being claimed is GOVERNMENT-RUN (Medicare, Tricare, etc.) and WOULD need access to financial records if a claim of DESTITUTION is being filed (they're claiming they can't pay the bill). As for the billing department, they WOULD need to see many claims details because the insurance companies can impose charge limits and write-off requirements as a condition of the claim, and these minutiae all affect the final bill sent to the patient/family. Then there's the legal department, who would probably need access to nigh everything in order to make sure everything's on the level and ESPECIALLY if a malpractice suit is filed against them.