Health Information Management

AHA provides guidelines for releasing PHI to law enforcement

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, August 15, 2005

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The privacy regulations allow covered entities to disclose PHI to law enforcement officials only for certain limited purposes without patient authorization. And the American Hospital Association (AHA) outlines those purposes in its Guidelines for Releasing Patient Information to Law Enforcement.

In some cases, the law enforcement official must initiate the request for information, while, in other cases, organizations may report information without a law enforcement request. The AHA report provides examples of permissible disclosures for both situations, as well as guidelines for identifying a law enforcement official, documentation, and more.

The report is meant as guidance, not legal advice. Click here to download a PDF of the report.



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