• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Remember these exceptions to HIPAA

HIM Connection, July 20, 2004

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIM Connection!

Not all protected health information is treated the same under the privacy rule. Sometimes patients don't have the right to keep their information private. Your organization has the responsibility to release information regardless of whether a patient approves, because another law requires disclosure to a government or law enforcement agency.

Six reasons to release confidential information without authorization

1. State health agencies require providers to report when patients have certain communicable diseases, even if the patient doesn't want the information reported.
2. The Food and Drug Administration requires providers to report certain information about medical devices that break or malfunction.
3. Some states require physicians and other caregivers who suspect child abuse or domestic violence to report it to the police.
4. Police have the right to request certain information about patients to determine whether they are suspects in a criminal investigation or to assist them in locating a missing person, material witness, or suspect.
5. The courts have the right to order providers to release patient information.
6. Providers must report cases of suspicious deaths or suspected crime victims.

In all of these cases, make sure your organization complies with the law and reports all information when necessary. If reporting this information is part of your job, follow your facility's policy on what types of documentation to require of those requesting information. Never give out PHI without confirming that the person or agency requesting the information has a legal right to it.

This excerpt is adapted from the HIPAA Training Handbook for HIM Staff: Privacy, Security, and Patients' Rights under HIPAA.

Andrea Dickey
Editorial Assistant
adickey@hcpro.com   

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIM Connection!

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive