RE: developing pictures

[Sherry Neuman]

Fred, I would go the other way and say a celebrity’s picture on the clinic wall is not PHI. By analogy, if a person is seen going into the bank, are they presumed to have money? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps they have NO money and are going in for a loan. I’m not sure you can draw any conclusion from a picture on a wall or a person entering a bank or any other isolated piece of information.   On the other hand, there probably aren’t that many pictures on any one wall and the health care provider could get an authorization to leave it hanging from the celeb; problem solved!   Regards, Sherry L. Neuman, PharmD   Compliance Solutions for Healthcare Phone/Fax: 209-744-0447 Mobile: 916-747-0999 [EMAIL PROTECTED]   -----Original Message----- From: Fred Dietrich [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, April 04, 2003 8:56 AM To: WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup List Subject: Re: developing pictures   This is a tough one.  I have a medical software company and thousands of doctors are clients.  Many of them display such photos on their office walls, and with great pride.  Even without HIPAA the practice is potentially at risk.  I know several that are STD-HIV specialists and have photos of big-name sports figures and celebrities on their walls, many with autographs and personal notes. Despite the fact that their connection with the people in the photos is for sports medicine and not as STD patients, the problem is clear.  If I am a new STD patient with these doctors, and I see the photos, I am unfortunately going to draw the obvious conclusion.  For some, the photos are not even where the casual passerby will see them, but once seen, photos of Olympic champions draped in gold medals with personal inscriptions, they are not easily forgotten. I will forward this thread to some and try to gauge their reaction.  I think the choices for the proud doctor are not very good.  They could possibly scan the photos into their computer and view or show them as necessary, or even make an album that they keep in their private office (maybe even in a locked cabinet).  But alas, I think they must take them off the walls.  It is probably not realistic to expect them to contact each person and get a release, which they would undoubtedly have no problem getting. BTW, are there some CEs that this would not be a problem for?  Maybe dentists? --Fred Dietrich 1-877-4-CHARTS ---------------------------------------- Deborah Campbell wrote: I've got to disagree with you on this one Kris. A person is allowed to give out any of their PHI. And they do so by giving the picture to the doctor. But under HIPAA, the doctor can not turn around and re-release it. The same as the patient is allowed to tell the doctor anything about their past medical condition, including STDs, cancer, HIV, but they don't expect the doctor can re-release that info to anybody else. (Only according to the regs.) I think HIPAA was written so that covered entities don't get to guess what is allowable.Deborah --- The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion of specific vendor products and services. They also are not intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or unprofessional communication at any time. You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same as the address subscribed to the list, please use the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org --- The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion of specific vendor products and services. They also are not intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or unprofessional communication at any time. You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same as the address subscribed to the list, please use the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org