Hospital Issues Guidelines Regarding Disclosures to Avert Threats to Health or Safety
Hospital Issues Guidelines Regarding Disclosures to Avert Threats to Health or Safety
Covered Entity: General Hospital
Issue: Safeguards; Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Disclosures to Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety
After treating a patient injured in a rather unusual sporting
accident, the hospital released to the local media, without the
patient’s authorization, copies of the patient’s skull x-ray as well as a
description of the complainant’s medical condition. The local newspaper
then featured on its front page the individual’s x-ray and an article
that included the date of the accident, the location of the accident,
the patient’s gender, a description of patient’s medical condition, and
numerous quotes from the hospital about such unusual sporting
accidents. The hospital asserted that the disclosures were made to
avert a serious threat to health or safety; however, OCR’s investigation
indicated that the disclosures did not meet the Privacy Rule’s standard
for such actions. The investigation also indicated that the
disclosures did not meet the Rule’s de-identification standard and
therefore were not permissible without the individual’s authorization.
Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the
case, OCR required the hospital to develop and implement a policy
regarding disclosures related to serious threats to health and safety,
and to train all members of the hospital staff on the new policy.
| Large Provider Revises Patient Contact Process to Reflect Requests for Confidential Communications Covered Entity: General Hospital Issue: Impermissible Disclosure; Confidential Communications A patient alleged that a general hospital disclosed protected health information when a hospital staff person left a message on the patient’s home phone answering machine, thereby failing to accommodate the patient’s request that communications of PHI be made only through her mobile or work phones. In response, the hospital instituted a number of actions to achieve compliance with the Privacy Rule. To resolve this matter to the satisfaction of OCR, the hospital: retrained an entire Department with ...read more |
| Hospital Implements New Minimum Necessary Polices for Telephone Messages Covered Entity: General Hospital Issue: Minimum Necessary; Confidential Communications A hospital employee did not observe minimum necessary requirements when she left a telephone message with the daughter of a patient that detailed both her medical condition and treatment plan. An OCR investigation also indicated that the confidential communications requirements were not followed, as the employee left the message at the patient’s home telephone number, despite the patient’s instructions to contact her through her work number. To resolve the issues in this case, the hospital developed and implemented several new procedures. ...read more |
| Health Sciences Center Revises Process to Prevent Unauthorized Disclosures to Employers Covered Entity: General Hospitals Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Authorizations A state health sciences center disclosed protected health information to a complainant's employer without authorization. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, including mitigation of harm to the complainant, OCR required the Center to revise its procedures regarding patient authorization prior to release of protected health information to an employer. All staff was trained on the revised procedures. ...read more |
| § 164.314 Organizational requirements. (a) (1) Standard: Business associate contracts or other arrangements. The contract or other arrangement required by § 164.308(b)(3) must meet the requirements of paragraph (a)(2)(i), (a)(2)(ii), or (a)(2)(iii) of this section, as applicable. (2) Implementation specifications (Required) - (i) Business associate contracts. The contract must provide that the business associate will - (A) Comply with the applicable requirements of this subpart; (B) In accordance with § 164.308(b)(2), ensure that any subcontractors that create, receive, maintain, or transmit electronic protected health information on behalf of the business associate agree to comply with the applicable requirements of ...read more |
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