The Misapplications & Misunderstandings That Turn HIPAA into a Code of Silence

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) would appear to be a clear-cut law that protects patient health information and offers guidelines for when that information can be safely released. However, the truth is that HIPAA is often misunderstood and misapplied.

There are situations in which HIPAA is utilized as a shield to allow health care providers to neglect to correctly disclose information, even when it is absolutely sensible to do so.

One common misapplication of HIPAA is the straightforward question of whether a friend was admitted to the hospital. There have been cases where hospitals tell people they cannot supply any information at all because of HIPAA.

Another blunder is using the law as the rationale for refusing to take information. In one example, a woman contacted the emergency room where her 85-year old mom was being treated. Since her mother's memory was impaired she desired to alert the staff to her mother’s drug allergies. The staff told her that HIPAA didn't permit them to take that information. Fortunately the woman eventually got a nurse to take the information before any damage was done.

To better understand HIPAA, think about the following guidelines:

·         Under HIPAA, assisted living facilities or nursing homes can offer general patient information on condition and location, if that patient is within that facility and can report a death. The patient can also list who can be advised.

·         HIPAA allows health professionals or family members and caregivers to supply information.

·         HIPAA applies only to organizations that handle patient data as part of their company. This consists of insurance companies, health care providers, clearinghouses that store and manage health information, and their business associates.

·         Written permission to release patient info is not necessary. Patients can verbally ask a friend or relative to receive their health care information. However, many facilities still insist on a written signature on a form.

·         Patients can object to the release of their information. A physician cannot disclose information in the event the patient objects and isn't incapacitated.

Have you ever encountered cases where HIPAA was misapplied to withhold information? Tell us about your experiences. To find out more about disclosure issues surrounding HIPAA, contact us!

Patients Search the Internet For Health Info, But Is It Ethical For Physicians to Google Patients?

Patients regularly surf the internet for health care information, doctor reviews, and treatment choices, generally starting with Google. Nonetheless, is it ethical for physicians to Google their patients? Doctors and bioethicists are weighing if this sort of search is proper.

Jessica Pierce, bioethicist, says that doctors shouldn't Google their patients. An Internet search isn't an ethical method to gather information about a patient and a physician isn't likely to find anything clinically applicable, she writes in Psychology Today.

Others contend that Internet searches by physicians regarding a patient might be satisfactory in very limited circumstances.  Examples of possible satisfactory utilization of Internet searches include scenarios where the doctor has a duty to warn of possible injury, to see if a patient's story is credible, to see if another professional's advice raises questions about a patient's story, and if there are suspicions of abuse or concern about suicide risk.

One example the authors noted was an instance where the doctor discovered that a cancer patient misrepresented her family's cancer history and was increasing funds, maybe fraudulently, to attend a cancer convention.

A bioethicist at The Hastings Center, a bioethics institute, argues that these notions of what represents an appropriate search are too far reaching. She says that doctor intent is what matters most. Why is the physician moved to do this? Is it going to help the patient or is it just out of personal curiosity?

The American Medical Association has new guidelines involving physician use of social media, nevertheless, those guidelines do not adequately cover this issue of a physician's Internet research on patients. The AMA admits this is an unresolved issue within the organization. The AMA's chair on the Council of Judicial and Ethical Affairs, Patrick McCormick, wrote in a blog post that physicians have a fundamental obligation to honor a patient's privacy and that professionalism and physician ethos extend to social networking.

Standards and guidelines involving a physician's use of the Web and social media are complex and still in development. To learn more,contact us.