Q&A: Police tips
Compliance Monitor, January 7, 2009
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Q: Say a police officer provided the name of a woman with a drug problem to a facility as a heads up. The officer reveals the woman got pain medication from another state, and lost her children because of a drug addiction and lifestyle. Would it be a violation for the treating physician to say that, because of the police report, he cannot be a party to her drug-seeking addiction? A: Law enforcement agencies are not covered entities under HIPAA, so they are not required to comply with the privacy rule. They may alert a physician’s office of a patient with drug-seeking behavior if they choose.
It would not be a violation to tell the patient about the police report, but it may be better for the physician to simply refuse to prescribe pain medication based on his or her assessment of the patient’s condition.
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