Please help thanks
I am a bit confused on this question
Paula Jamasen's attorney asks Dr Tsou for the medical records about Paula's car accident and promises to provide a written authroization fom Paula later. Dr Tsou gives the attorney Paula's entire file, including her records about treatment for HIV I need to know if any violations of HIPPA privacy rule has occurred..
Now I Know that with HIPPA the doctor etc can not discuss the patient's iformation with other people and you need to have something in writing from the patient for whom your medical informaton can be shared with such as family members etc. No I think a violation has happened because Paula should have singed a relase form first and the doctor should not have given the part of the medical record about Paula's HIV treatment
Thank you for using the Jiskha Homework Help Forum. Yes, indeed, the doctor had no business sharing her medical records with the attorney, without Paula's permission . You do not say there was a subpoena involved.
Paula would first have to sign a release of information form at her doctor's office in order for them to send any information. She would put on the form who she wanted the records to be sent, and what part of her records she wanted to be sent. In example, she could have written entire chart, which would include info about her HIV info or she could have put only info after certain date( accident date). If the doctor sent the info and no subpoenas were given, without Paula's permission, the doctor is at fault and broke the HIPPA law, which is very serious.
You are correct in your understanding of the HIPAA privacy rule. According to HIPAA, healthcare providers must obtain written authorization from a patient before disclosing their medical information to a third party, such as an attorney. Additionally, certain sensitive information, like HIV treatment records, require even stricter protection.
In this scenario, Paula Jamasen's attorney asked Dr. Tsou for medical records without having a written authorization from Paula. Dr. Tsou then provided Paula's entire file, including records about her HIV treatment. Based on this information, it appears that there has been a violation of the HIPAA privacy rule.
To confirm if a violation has occurred, you can follow these steps:
1. Determine if the attorney provided a written authorization from Paula: Without a written authorization, the attorney should not have requested or received Paula's medical records. It is essential to have explicit written consent from the patient.
2. Assess the relevance of the HIV treatment records: If the attorney had requested specific records related to Paula's car accident, providing her HIV treatment records would be considered a violation. HIV treatment records fall under the category of sensitive medical information and require additional confidentiality protections.
3. Consider other exceptions: While the general rule is to have a written authorization, there may be exceptions in certain situations. However, in this scenario, it does not appear that any exceptions apply.
Ultimately, it seems that a violation of the HIPAA privacy rule has occurred due to the attorney's request without a written authorization and the doctor's disclosure of Paula's HIV treatment records without proper justification.