Disclosures
- If my family or friends call my health care provider to ask about my condition, will they have to give my provider proof of who they are?
- Can health care information be shared in a severe disaster?
- Will this HIPAA Privacy Rule make it easier for police and law enforcement agencies to get my medical information?
- Does the HIPAA Privacy Rule permit a doctor to discuss a patient’s health status, treatment, or payment arrangements with the patient’s family and friends?
- Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, may a health care provider disclose protected health information about an individual to another provider, when such information is requested for the treatment of a family member of the individual?
- Can I have another person pick up my prescription drugs, medical supplies, or X-rays?
- Can a patient have a family member, friend, or other person pick up a filled prescription, medical supplies, X-rays, or other similar forms of patient information, for the patient?
- May a covered entity disclose protected health information to a Protection and Advocacy system where the disclosure is required by law?
- Is the HIPAA Privacy Rule suspended during a national or public health emergency?
- May a health care provider discuss a patient’s health information over the phone with the patient’s family, friends, or others involved in the patient’s care or payment for care?
- State public records laws, also known as open records or freedom of information laws, all provide for certain public access to government records. How does the HIPAA Privacy Rule relate to these state laws?
- When does the Privacy Rule allow covered entities to disclose protected health information to law enforcement officials?
- If I am unconscious or not around, can my health care provider still share or discuss my health information with my family, friends, or others involved in my care or payment for my care?
- If the patient is not present or is incapacitated, may a health care provider still share the patient’s health information with family, friends, or others involved in the patient’s care or payment for care?
- May physician's offices or pharmacists leave messages for patients at their homes, either on an answering machine or with a family member, to remind them of appointments or to inform them that a prescription is ready? May providers continue to mail appointment or prescription refill reminders to patients' homes?
- Does the HIPAA Privacy Rule permit nursing homes and other health care institutions to disclose information concerning admissions of supplemental security income (SSI) recipients to the Social Security Administration (SSA)?
- If the patient is present and has the capacity to make health care decisions, when does HIPAA allow a health care provider to discuss the patient’s health information with the patient’s family, friends, or others involved in the patient’s care or payment for care?
- Can the phone number of a patient’s room be released as part of the facility directory?
- How can I help make sure my health care providers share my health information with my family, friends, or others involved in my care or payment for my care when I want them to?
- When a covered entity, such as a doctor, uses a certified Telecommunications Relay Service to contact patients with hearing or speech impairments, is the Relay Service a business associate of the doctor?