Health Information Management

HIPAA v. the greater good: TB case stirs debate

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, June 28, 2004

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The death of a Chesapeake, VA nurse from tuberculosis on June 12 is reason enough to forgo HIPAA requirements keeping the nurse's identity secret, says a columnist for the Virginian-Pilot.

The hospital at which the nurse worked was able to track down and inform many of the people she came into contact with using her schedule, and have resisted releasing her name even after her death, the Pilot reports.

The Pilot traced and then released the name of the deceased nurse using basic descriptions provided by public health officials and by alternative sources, the Pilot says.



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