Can a Family Member Violate HIPAA? ANSWERED

Описание: 60% of people say that their family is the most important aspect of their life.

From a personal standpoint, I think that that statistic makes sense. I imagine that you’ve met someone who talks about how important their family is to them. Or, maybe you’re the person I’m referring to.

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From a statistical point of view, children who live with their biological parents are 20% to 35% more physically healthy. While 85% of parents who adopted report their children being in excellent health.

In other words, our family structure has a direct impact on how healthy we are as individuals. Of course, not everything is sunshine and rainbows when it comes to families. More than 30% of children experience a major change in their household structure before the age of 6.

The point I’m trying to make is that families aren’t perfect and achieving a 100% winning dynamic isn’t possible. As a result, certain laws that deal with privacy don’t even allow organizations to share personal information without the consent of the source individual, even if they’re a spouse.

One of the best examples of a law that exists with strict privacy stipulations is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As a result, we’re left with asking questions that may seem to have an obvious answer but require deep explanation. One of those common questions is, “Can a family member violate HIPAA?”

To truly determine whether or not a family member can violate HIPAA, you have to turn to the law. The HIPAA Privacy Rule states, “a covered entity may use or disclose protected health information, provided that the individual is informed in advance of the use or disclosure and has the opportunity to agree to or prohibit or restrict the use or disclosure.”

In other words, medical professionals can share certain aspects related to their patient’s PHI with their spouse, family members, friends or other identified persons. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the HIPAA Privacy Rule permits healthcare professionals to share their patients; Health status, Treatment, and Payment arrangements.

Now that we know what the law says, let me explain something called “professional judgment”. If you went on the HHS’ website and read all of the different scenarios they give. You’ll soon realize a pattern. They use the verbiage “professional judgment” often.

What exactly does this mean and why do they use it so much?

It’s up to the medical professional to keep their patient’s best intentions in mind when disclosing any of their sensitive information. As an example, people pick up the prescriptions of their family members all of the time. The medication someone takes is classified as protected health information.

Yet, when you go to the front desk, the pharmacist or technician asks you a series of questions like… which prescription you’re picking up, whether or not you’re the individual this prescription is for, and the date of birth listed for the person who the prescription is for. Based on the way you answer those series of questions, the medical professional on the other side can judge whether or not you have the patient’s best intentions in mind.

If you’ve done some research on whether or not family members can violate HIPAA, you’ve probably run across material that states that you have to get a patient’s written permission before sharing any of their information. This is actually a common misconception.

According to the HHS, you only have to get a patient’s verbal permission.
Even with those requirements, though, many healthcare organizations establish a policy that requires written permission for disclosure from its patients for documentation purposes. Although the law doesn’t require permission granted in writing, it does require continuity. If your organization requires consent form signage, you have to adhere to that policy.

There are always exceptions to every rule, especially within healthcare.
What happens when an illness or injury incapacitates a patient? You might not have time as a medical professional to ask for permission to share information about an emergency situation. This (as with everything else in this post it seems) goes back to professional judgment.

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