Special Report: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina
HHS issues alert saying HIPAA not a problem
In the midst of Hurricane Katrina, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a special alert advising health care workers that were allowed to share protected patient information to provide necessary medical care. The notice also explained that providers were not required to gather patient signatures when sharing information with disaster relief organizations if obtaining the signatures would hinder the disaster response.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) allows information-sharing to coordinate care with relief workers and to notify family members or responsible parties of a patient's location and general condition or death, the notice explained. It also allows providers to share information with the police and news media for the purpose of locating or identifying responsible parties and allows health care facilities to answer inquiries about whether a patient is at the facility, the patient's location within the facility, and general condition.
These are excerpts from the HHS bulletin released on Sept. 2:
"Providers and health plans covered by the HIPAA Privacy Rule can share patient information in all the following ways:
- Treatment. Health care providers can share patient information as necessary to provide treatment. Treatment includes sharing information with other providers (including hospitals and clinics), referring patients for treatment (including linking patients with available providers in areas where the patients have relocated), and coordinating patient care with others (such as emergency relief workers or others that can help in finding patients appropriate health services). Providers can also share patient information to the extent necessary to seek payment for these health care services.
- Notification. Health care providers can share patient information as necessary to identify, locate, and notify family members, guardians, or anyone else responsible for the individual's care of the individual's location, general condition, or death. The health care provider should get verbal permission from individuals, when possible; but, if the individual is incapacitated or not available, providers may share information for these purposes if, in their professional judgment, doing so is in the patient's best interest. Thus, when necessary, the hospital may notify the police, the press, or the public at large to the extent necessary to help locate, identify, or otherwise notify family members and others as to the location and general condition of their loved ones.
In addition, when a health care provider is sharing information with disaster relief organizations that, like the American Red Cross, are authorized by law or by their charters to assist in disaster relief efforts, it is unnecessary to obtain a patient's permission to share the information if doing so would interfere with the organization's ability to respond to the emergency.
- Imminent danger. Providers can share patient information with anyone as necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health and safety of a person or the public — consistent with applicable law and the provider's standards of ethical conduct.
- Facility directory. Health care facilities maintaining a directory of patients can tell people who call or ask about individuals whether the individual is at the facility, their location in the facility, and general condition. Of course, the HIPAA Privacy Rule does not apply to disclosures if they are not made by entities covered by the Privacy Rule. Thus, for instance, the HIPAA Privacy Rule does not restrict the American Red Cross from sharing patient information.
Resource
For the full bulletin on compliance the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) during a disaster, go to www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/KATRINAnHIPAA.pdf.
In the midst of Hurricane Katrina, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a special alert advising health care workers that were allowed to share protected patient information to provide necessary medical care.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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