44
votes
Accepted
How is it legal for a hospital to put two patients together in the same room in the US?
As a short answer, guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services has clarified that HIPAA does not require hospitals to provide separate rooms.
As a longer answer, HIPAA is very deeply ...
- 61.8k
22
votes
Does HIPAA apply to individuals?
It would merely be a "jerk move".
HIPAA only applies to "covered entities":
Healthcare Providers
Health Plans
Healthcare Clearing Houses (i.e. Paying for your health care)
...
- 8,879
22
votes
Accepted
If a minor requested a doctor prescribe her birth control, can she demand the doctor not disclose her request to her parents?
united-statestexas
In the US, it depends on the consent-to-treat laws of the state. In Washington, under RCW 9.02.100, everybody has a right to reproductive privacy (be it contraceptives or abortions)....
- 217k
12
votes
Accepted
Does HIPAA protect against doctors giving prescriptions to pharmacists that you didn't approve?
It is not a violation. The privacy rule requires that your personal medical information be kept "private", but your consent is not required for another health care provider to process PMI. ...
- 217k
10
votes
If a minor requested a doctor prescribe her birth control, can she demand the doctor not disclose her request to her parents?
france
Parental consent is normally needed for any intervention made on a minor but two topics are exception, in which they incur secrecy and never needing parental consent, birth control and IVG (...
- 2,157
10
votes
Accepted
Is challenging an elderly American politician to take a cognitive test a violation of HIPPA law(s)?
The privacy-protecting rules of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) apply to covered entities and business associates of those entities. These rules require those entities ...
- 72.7k
8
votes
Accepted
Why aren't post-mortem records protected by HIPAA?
HIPAA applies only to specified entities(see https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Administrative-Simplification/HIPAA-ACA/AreYouaCoveredEntity.html); including Health Plans, Health Care ...
- 8,879
7
votes
What is the most comparable American law to GDPR right to subject access? Privacy Act?
HIPAA seems comparable but only applies to medical data, but is there
anything more general than that?
Not really, at least at the national level.
There is no comprehensive national regulation of ...
- 240k
7
votes
Does HIPAA prevent your doctors from disclosing Protected Health Information with the insurance provider?
HIPAA prevents the doctors from sharing protected information without proper authorization.
However as part of your agreeing to receive service from the doctor and providing insurance information as a ...
- 4,642
6
votes
Why aren't post-mortem records protected by HIPAA?
Sharur's answer is the correct one, but I wanted to chime in to note that even when records are covered by HIPAA, they may still be public records nonetheless, because HIPAA includes an exception (45 ...
- 61.8k
6
votes
What are a business's obligations now that the Biden (OSHA) administration has suspended enforcement of its business vaccination mandate(s)?
Not at all. A US business always had the authority to require employees to be vaccinated before entering the workplace, except if a valid state law prohibits this. The EEOC has confirmed that none of ...
- 115k
4
votes
Concealing Medical Conditions from Employer
It is not legal to give false responses on such a declaration. The point of anti-discrimination laws is that they say when it is legal vs. not legal to discriminate against an employee, and Alex is ...
- 217k
4
votes
Accepted
Do the HIPAA regulations in the United States prevent medical providers from disclosing relevant health information on patient A to patient B?
HIPAA does not legally protect physicians from disclosing PHI to another party, although there are a few exceptions: HHS provides an excellent resource on these, but the regulation most relevant to ...
4
votes
How is it legal for a hospital to put two patients together in the same room in the US?
Aside from all else, it's a matter of practicality. For instance ADA requires government facilities to be wheelchair accessible, but many stations in the NYC subway are not because it's impossible - ...
4
votes
Accepted
Picture of a receipt from a Doctor
Is It Legally Binding?
While their customer service sucks, your oral authorization of the charge is legally binding (I take payments that way almost every day in my own business, it isn't an unusual ...
- 240k
4
votes
For HIPAA, Does US Patient Data Have To Stay On US Servers?
No. This is governed by the HIPAA Security Rule which was a regulation that the HIPAA statute required the Department of Health and Human Services to adopt.
The Rule does require someone covered by ...
- 240k
4
votes
Hipaa - doctor shared my medical information with everyone at religious facility
Gossiping about a patients medical information is a clear violation of the privacy rule, and significant enough that various HIPAA-compliance websites list this in their "10 things for medical ...
- 217k
4
votes
Is self-reported wellness covered by HIPPA?
It first depends on whether you are a "covered entity". This is laid out in 45 CFR Part 160. §160.103 defines the various terms such as "covered entity", "business associate&...
- 217k
4
votes
Are complaints to hospital administration PHI under HIPAA's Privacy Rule
PHI is health information that is individually identifiable. Any record, even a post-it note, can be PHI.
In this case, the complaint form is PHI if it contains the patient's name or other identifier ...
- 81
3
votes
Is it a HIPAA violation for a dentist office to print a patient's password on paperwork?
This is not a HIPAA violation. HIPAA requires that personal information not be revealed to people lacking a statutorily-defined interest, without the patient's consent. A password itself is not "...
- 217k
3
votes
Accepted
Do parents have access to an adult child's childhood medical records
Late to the party, but I'll answer anyways.
In general, providers have a lot of wiggle room when sharing information with parents, on condition that the patient hasn't explicitly objected despite ...
- 1,653
3
votes
Accepted
Is it a HIPAA violation to use a personal email to set up a medical billing account at work?
HIPAA imposes obligations on some people, but not all people. In the case of security and privacy questions, you would consult 45 CFR Part 164. A patient's actions are not subject to government ...
- 217k
3
votes
Accepted
Can an employer ask an employee about personal health matters (HIPAA) and COBRA decision in public?
It's probably not unlawful to ask, but an answer cannot be required immediately.
Per the Department of Labor, Susan has 60 days to elect COBRA coverage (the qualifying event here being the termination ...
- 10.3k
3
votes
Allergies, Sudafed, HIPAA, a prescription, and the logbook/databse
The "logbook" is required by federal law, part of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005. See 21 USC 830 (e) (1) (A):
Each regulated seller shall ensure that, subject to subparagraph (F), ...
- 31.1k
3
votes
HIPAA within context of marriage
The regulations known as HIPAA are here. A good place to start is with who the regulations apply to. §160.10 lays that out: a health plan, health care clearinghouse, care provider, their business ...
- 217k
3
votes
Accepted
Insurance Company sending possible PHI to the wrong mailing address
Under 45 CFR 164.402 a "breach" is
the acquisition, access, use, or disclosure of protected health
information in a manner not permitted under subpart E of this part
which compromises the ...
- 217k
3
votes
If a minor requested a doctor prescribe her birth control, can she demand the doctor not disclose her request to her parents?
germany
tl;dr:
Generally, yes. The doctor may not inform the parents against the patient's wishes, as long as the doctor considers the patient to be "sufficiently mature", which is generally ...
- 8,815
3
votes
Is an official patient/physician relationship required for HIPAA to apply?
The rule applies to "A covered entity or business associate", who may not "use or disclose protected health information" except as permitted. The set of covered entities and ...
- 217k
3
votes
Medical privacy and record-keeping laws before HIPAA
A medical doctor has certain duties as a matter of professional ethics to maintain patient confidentiality, although the duty isn't as absolute as it is in the case of lawyers and priests, for example....
- 240k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible