The Health of Local Health Care:
New HIPAA rules can affect you
During a recent appointment Ethel's physician decided she needed to be admitted to the hospital. Finally settled in her room, Ethel left a message that she was in the hospital on her daughter and sons' cell phones. Several hours later Ethel lay wondering why none of her children had called or stopped by.
But her children had called, not only this hospital but several others, too. They were growing frustrated and scared, because none of the hospitals would say their mother had been admitted. What had happened?
Ethel, thinking only to keep an estranged daughter from knowing she was there, had chosen to "opt-out" of the hospital's patient list when she was admitted. What she did not consider was this meant the hospital staff could not inform anyone that she was a patient.
Under the new federal HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) rules a hospital can disclose a patient's location and condition only if that patient has chosen to opt-in to the hospital's directory.
"Families need to discuss this issue, along with those of living wills and organ donation before they have a need to be hospitalized," advised Heather Logan, Privacy Officer for Cascade Valley Hospital.
"We have had family members calling continuously looking for their relative because we cannot give them the information they want when the patient has told us not to. It's a problem."
While federal officials believe the new rules will not interfere with the flow of information needed to treat patients and pay claims, doctors and hospital staff, uncertain what the rules allow, have become overly cautious.
"People have gotten so concerned about privacy in this country," noted Cassie Sauer, spokeswoman for the Washington State Hospital Association, that some may say they don't want information on their condition shared without realizing what that means.
Maybe when patients as well as hospital staff become more familiar with the new rules, less anxiety will surround the whole issue. But for now, uninformed patients combined with staff fearful of fines up to $250,000 and 10 years in prison make this the focal point of the new rules.
"There are some great privacy benefits to the new HIPAA rules," Logan said. "Hopefully everyone will make their "opt-in/opt-out" decision and begin to focus on taking advantage of these benefits."
Patients have the right to:
- Inspect their own medical record
- Request restrictions on who can view their record
- Get a copy of their record for a nominal fee
- Request an amendment to their record
"We all now have a wonderful opportunity to be more involved in our medical care," added Logan. "We can use this as a tool to talk to our doctors about what the record contains. Ask them to explain the parts we don't understand and use that information to make more well-informed health care choices."
Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes only. It should not replace a visit with your health care professional. Call your doctor if you need more information or have additional questions.