Title: RE: HIPAA privacy and telephone
164.510 allows, but does not require covered entities
to disclose or use protected health information to:
Family
members, close friends, or others assisting in an individuals
care.
Rule
requires that the individual be notified in advance and given the opportunity to
agree or prohibit or restrict the use or disclosure. This can be oral
agreement.
So
this is a matter of #1 Notification and #2 during the office visit obtaining
permission to inform the spouse or other family members who are involved in the
medical care of the individual.
Gerry Friberg Client Service Manager Professional
Business Services 7700 A Street
Lincoln, NE 68510 402-489-7131 www.pbssite.com
-Original Message-From: Clay, Roy III (NO)
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 3:09
PMTo: WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup ListSubject: RE: HIPAA
privacy and telephone
My feeling is that unless you have authorization from the
patient, anything other than giving the results directly to the patient is not
allowed. You wish you can have an opt-in question on the order of "Do we have
your permission to leave medical information with your spouse?(Y/N) These
responses would have to be tracked and adhered to.
-Original Message- From: Doug
Webb [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 8:51 AM To: WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup List Subject:
Re: HIPAA privacy and telephone
An extension to this -- how do you handle answering
machines?
My gut feeling is that either a no-no (the machine more
questionable than a family member) -- the information could only be released
to the patient or his/her representative designated in a written
authorizaton. Perhaps another signature on your main
consent/authorization form to allow these types of communications is what's
needed???
The opinions expressed here are my own and not necessarily the
opinion of LCMH.
Douglas M. Webb Computer System
Engineer Little Company of Mary Hospital Health
Care Centers [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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- Original Message - From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "WEDI SNIP Privacy
Workgroup List" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2003 04:04 PM Subject: HIPAA privacy and telephone
I would like the lists opinion on this topic.
Patient comes to the office
to have their potassium checked because they are on a diuretic. Later,
the physician's nurse calls the patient at home with results but the patient
is not home. Spouse answers the phone. Can you tell the spouse
that the potassium was fine and that he/she should tell the spouse to continue
the same dose of diuretic and potassium supplement? If you say "no, this
type of disclosure is not allowed", would it matter that we put a statment in
our Notice of Privacy Practices that stated (in the section on Payment,
treatment and health care operations) "On occasion, we call test results
to your home and leave the results with a family member if you are not
present". Now, obviously, we would not do this with a HIV result but it
seems like such a waste of everyone's time to play phone tag to accommodate
the one patient in a million that is actually upset because you told the
spouse what the potassium result was. Thank you.
Rich Fairley,
Dubuque, IA
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