Q: Is it permissible for a cancer care program to disclose PHI to a professional group, such as the American Cancer Society's Reach for Recovery program, without obtaining patient or personal representative authorization?
HIPAA Weekly Advisor, January 14, 2008
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIPAA Weekly Advisor!
A: No. The reason for disclosure determines whether authorization is necessary. You may only use or disclose PHI without the patient's authorization for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations.
Because Reach for Recovery is a breast cancer support service provided by community volunteers that your patients might want to participate in, it would be reasonable to provide your patients with contact information for the program.
Alternatively, you could ask patients for permission to give Reach for Recovery their contact information so that program volunteers could supply more information.
Editor's note: Mary Brandt, president of Bellaire, TX-based Brandt & Associates, LLC, answered this question. This is not legal advice. Consult your attorney for legal matters.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIPAA Weekly Advisor!
Comments
0 comments on “Q: Is it permissible for a cancer care program to disclose PHI to a professional group, such as the American Cancer Society's Reach for Recovery program, without obtaining patient or personal representative authorization? ”
Related Products
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- Identify potential Medicaid RAC target areas
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- Capturing all necessary codes for IUD insertion and removal can be challenging
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- QA:Coding multiple initial infusions
- E-mailed
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- Q&A: Follow CMS' coding guidelines when using modifier -25
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- CMS has reformulated payments for some bilateral procedures
- New conflicts of interest create new challenges
- Q/A. One injection code or two?
- ED-to-inpatient transfers are flawed with safety gaps
- Searched