When do you violate HIPAA laws?

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heavenjoans7

Forum Crew Member
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If I work as an EMT,and I encounter interesting things when treating a patient or just have a crazy encounter with one, in general, an interesting story to tell, am I able to talk about what happened and what my patient had etc. without giving any personal information about them without violating HIPAA laws? I just don't quite understand it well, I think it's ok considering we did it at school all the time, but just want to make sure. Because as an EMT, I know we can have interesting stories to talk about.
 
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DesertMedic66

Forum Troll
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If your company falls into one of the covered entities then yes you have to abide by the HIPAA laws.

As long as the patient can not be identified there is usually no issue.
 
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joshrunkle35

EMT-P/RN
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Unless they receive Social Security and have mental illness, then, per Executive Order, they are no longer granted rights to their privacy.
 
Meursault

Meursault

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joshrunkle35 said:
Unless they receive Social Security and have mental illness, then, per Executive Order, they are no longer granted rights to their privacy.
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This is why we can't have nice things.

I tried to answer this a while back. IANAL (and I'm also not a lawyer), but this is pulled directly from the linked sites.
Meursault said:
Are you a lawyer? Can I trust your advice?
No and no. But I'm pretty much regurgitating what the agency charged with enforcing HIPAA says about it. If you happen to be a lawyer, and I've made a mistake, correct me.

What is HIPAA, and what does it mean for me?
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a typically long and unclear law governing what health care providers, insurers, and the like do with a broad class of patient information. The most comprehensive source on HIPAA I've found so far is http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/coveredentities/index.html. Try the privacy rule summary.
Here's the most important quote, from the FAQ:
"The Privacy Rule does not require you to obtain a signed consent form before sharing information for treatment purposes. Health care providers can freely share information for treatment purposes without a signed patient authorization.​

I'm being told that I can't (look at a patient's chart, take any paperwork with me, get an oral report, etc.) because it would be a HIPAA violation. What do?
These cases seem to be due to one of three things: complete ignorance about what HIPAA actually mandates (hint: did they spell it "HIPPA"?), absurdly restrictive compliance policies adopted when the law first went into effect, or laziness, malice, and dishonesty. If it's one of the first two, you might benefit from speaking to a supervisor and/or confidently and repeatedly explaining that disclosures for treatment are permitted. Realistically, though, you can't fix any of these. If it's an organization you deal with regularly, see if your employer can do something about it.

Any interesting threads on this forum? Other sources?
Remember how I mentioned a "HIPAA-related knowledge deficit"? But here's what I dredged up:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/u...7713966-aPWs2HDMsgou0r9XdcRkGA&pagewanted=all Some actual HIPAA violations that resulted in fines, via ffemt8978.
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/phy...ability-act/hipaa-violations-enforcement.page A detailed explanation of the punishments for HIPAA violations.
http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=10554 Several of the regulars use a press conference about a celebrity death to discuss patient privacy, legal and ethical duties, and how to talk to the media. Great advice from karaya. I'll return to this if I get around to ethics.
Beyond that, the only thing you'll get from searching are examples of people's misconceptions about HIPAA and patient privacy in general.
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