Hospital could face criminal charges for protecting patient privacy
HIPAA Weekly Advisor, September 13, 2004
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If Spartanburg (SC) Regional Medical Center does not back down from its stance of protecting patient privacy and start reporting criminal incidents involving patients, the hospital could face charges of obstruction of justice, according to the Associated Press (AP).
Sparked by a May 6 death of a patient in the behavioral health unit (due to an altercation with another patient) that went unreported for six days, prosecutors plan to discuss with Spartanburg's Vice President and CEO Charles Towson changes to the system that would allow for the disclosure of information to law enforcement officials and still offer protection of patient privacy. If the system doesn't change, prosecutors may press charges.
"We followed our policy and the law," Towson told the AP. "If someone can show us a law that we're not complying with, I'd like to see it. Otherwise, our patients have a right to privacy."
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