HIPAA
Since the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s privacy rule went into effect in 2003, it has become increasingly difficult for journalists to get information about the health care and treatment of individuals. My former colleagues, health reporter Betsy Querna, recommends the Association of Health Care Journalists’ primer on the federal law:
…there are a number of public policy exceptions under the Privacy Rule that permit the disclosure of protected health information without an individual’s authorization. For example, covered entities may disclose information for treatment purposes, for certain law enforcement or public health oversight purposes, or in accordance with a court order. (This list is not exhaustive.)
Additionally, the following are NOT protected health information: police and fire incident reports, and court records. Also, birth records and autopsy records are not protected health information to the extent they are maintained by state agencies. In addition, if a state FOIA law designates death records and/or autopsy reports as public information that must be disclosed, covered entities may disclose that protected health information without an authorization.
Hospitals may maintain directories of patients, although patients can ask to be kept out of the directory and health care professionals use their professional judgment with regard to what directory information (if any) to include about incapacitated individuals. When someone calls and asks about a patient by name whose information is in the directory, the hospital may reveal where the patient is located in the hospital and information about the patient’s general condition (including whether the patient has died, or whether the patient has been treated and released).
To release additional information to a reporter, a hospital must obtain written authorization from the patient (or the patient’s parent or guardian in the case of minors). That document does not have to be notarized or witnessed. The American Hospital Association’s Web site, http://www.aha.org, provides a checklist of what should be included in an authorization form, along with other guidance on HIPAA.
- Association of Health Care Journalists