Disease outbreaks and confidentiality
HIPAA Weekly Advisor, January 12, 2004
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Disease outbreaks and confidentiality
With the flu spreading rapidly this season, hospitals and public health officials across the U.S. are facing what may be the first major test of their ability to balance the public's right to know with patients' right to privacy. HIPAA permits the release of information for the public good, but some government or hospital officials won't release the age of flu victims, even though the public might benefit from knowing that this season's strain appears to have hit children particularly hard. In Iowa, providers can't even release the gender or hometown of flu victims.
But the public needs more information, says Robin McFee, MD, director of the Center of Bioterrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction Preparedness at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Access to information can prevent panic, McFee told the Associated Press. "What's wrong with saying, 'Do these patients have something in common?' If it's 12- to 16-year-old asthmatics who were on steroids, they would be immune-compromised. If you're a parent of a child like that, you need to know -- and that does not violate HIPAA."
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