Resources for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Hospitals Struggle With How Much Patient Information to Disclose to Police

www.aishealth.com

After years of wrestling with how to contain errant cops who hang out in the emergency room (ER), pressuring nurses and doctors into releasing information they are not entitled to under HIPAA, Greg Young came up with a simple solution.

Young, a former police detective and SWAT team member, is the privacy and security officer at Mammoth Hospital in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. Although the privacy rule has been in effect for four years, Young put in place a policy one month ago to address disclosures to law enforcement officials as a way to help his staff set boundaries with the pushy ones.

The policy was issued with a new form that is filled out by both the employee giving out the information and the law enforcement official requesting it. Complete with checkboxes, the form is an easy way for Mammoth to control the release of information in compliance with HIPAA.

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