Fairley,
I believe that leaving the "message" (in your scenario, below) would be a
HIPAA-sanctioned disclosure if the nurse has evidence that the spouse is:
The Personal Representative of the subject of the PHI, or
Participating in the patient's treatment
Otherwise, probably not. Further, a CE may not "opt-out" of HIPAA by announcing in
the NPP that it will "on occasion" engage in disclosures precluded by HIPAA.
I hope that this helps.
Your questions are always welcome.
Matt
Matthew Rosenblum
Chief Operations Officer
Privacy, Quality Management & Regulatory Affairs
CPI Directions, Inc.
10 West 15th Street, Suite 1922
New York, NY 10011
(212) 675-6367
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This E-Mail is intended only for the use of the individual or
entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged,
confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you have received
this communication in error, please do not distribute it. Please notify the sender by
E-Mail at the address shown and delete the original message. Thank you.
AVISO DEL CONFIDENCIALIDAD: Este email es solamente para el uso del individuo o la
entidad a la cual se dirige y puede contener información privilegiada, confidencial y
exenta de acceso bajo la ley aplicable. Si usted ha recibido esta comunicación por
error, por favor no lo distribuya. Favor notificar al remitente del E-Mail a la
dirección mostrada y elimine el mensaje original. Gracias.
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2003 5:04 PM
To: WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup List
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
N–24ƒåŠËlz»í£br ¨¹ªÞ²æìr¸›yجž‹f¡×«j×NŠÇ.²È¨žÊ'¶¬–+-±êﶫyú+z·©ë žÛazøžÂʶ¢Ø¯‰Ûš––«¶'"¥©í±©Ýv‰è¶wœzË®)rêkzǧ¶Ø^¾'°²‡í…å„
€hj·h|8«yËh®Éèa!#H<‡ò¢ì"²hç Š÷šž‡ß‰Èš–Šbž*'¦‹-Ê‹«ªç¬¶*'¶‹aya!#H<‹,¹ëjÖ›jÇš¶m§ÿìž*pyب®í§$Šx?N¬zX¬¶Ç«¾Ë!¢é]ž‹[zë uú+r‰¦z·"jYš®GŠx)ººh±ë(جrë,Š‰è~Ê^r'âr÷§vŠé®‡nrÛÛ ®øœzÄá{&¥²†«zz-Š{^׶†ÞºÇjÆŸ¢»¦~Šéz»(©]ŠÆ
ç¦z{l¢»§¦ºzË"¢v¥r‰¦ºxœjب«ZŸ+b™æ(¹ªÞrêëz{eÊË›±Êâmçm£
Ššâ½§2jâǧn[¦jÛgzÔèº{.nÇ+‰·Ÿ®‰†+%ŠË`¢Ú-…ä®nÇ+‰·¿R{.nÇ+‰·Ÿ¢¹š¶m§ÿì¹» ®&ÞÁçb¢¸(®Ç§u¦åjy ™¨¥¶‰^j÷°yØ©®+Ús-x÷]xï’åŠËlÁçb¢¸*.綋§²æìr¸›y»Ê‹«rêëz{^™¨¥i×kzË"²z-¶¬jgš²Ø^i×kzË,¹» ®&ÞvÚ-…éb²Úey« ºÇ…ä®nÇ+‰·¿R{.nÇ+‰·Ÿ¢¹š¶m§ÿì¹» ®&ÞÁçb
�� ��
�b�� ��h���*.j���� �&�v+'�٨u�ڵ�S��b�ˬ�*'���+%��lz����~�ޭ�kzǧ��^�'�����v+�v楥��ȩj{ljw]�z-�� �ƫ�\�z�ޱ������,��aya
�� *�r�+�z+X@�H�!������+yǢ�槡��r&��������r����-�����^X@�H�"�.z�ڵ�ڱ歆�i��'�� v*+��ki�"�Ӆ� �+-����h�Wg��ǝ~�ܢi��Ț�f���b�
n��,z�+v+ ��"�z ��������ݢ�k�ۜ�Ƨvǫ�' �8^ɩl��ޞ�b�קu�m�����Z���韢�^��'jWb��+y鞞�(��鮇Ȩ��\�i��'�*'j֧�ئy�.j����ޞ�r���r��y�h��b���i̚��܆+ޙ��j�!����d�{.n�+�������+%��`��-��n�+���R{.n�+�������m��칻 �&���b��(�ǧu��jy �����^j��yة�+�s-z�|�T��l��b��*.�睶�����r��y��ʋ�r��z{^���i�kz�"�z-��jg���^i�kz�,�� �&�v�-��b��ey� �ǭ��n�+���R{.n�+�������m��칻 �&���b��
