It is the responsibility of covered entities to ensure that patient PHI is available on demand, without reasonable delay. Remember, we’re all here reading this article because we want to protect patient’s rights and patients have the right to inspect and receive a copy of their PHI. Most importantly, patient authorization is not required when the patients are requesting their own PHI. (Check out our article on HIPAA TPO Allowable Disclosures to learn more!) These allowable disclosures extend to insurance companies, specialty care providers, laboratories, pharmacies, and any other covered entities or business associates ( with a Business Associate Agreement in place!) that are involved in the patient’s care.Īllowable disclosures do not extend to entities involved in the operations of Business Associates unless those third parties have compliant BAAs as well. These allowable disclosures may be performed without explicit consent from the patient (though there are situations that can induce a HIPAA Privacy Exception).įor example, an ambulance company would not need to obtain patient consent to disclose information about the patient’s EMS transport to a hospital or care provider who is involved in the patient’s treatment, because those disclosures are allowed by law. Generally, PHI can be shared for treatment, payment, and other health-related operations. This rule allows for the sharing of PHI by health plans, healthcare providers, HIPAA covered institutions and entities, and others covered by the rules of HIPAA.
This includes whom information can be disclosed to, and under what circumstances PHI can be shared. In 2003, the HIPAA Privacy Rule introduced standards for uses and disclosures of PHI (Protected Health Information). To make things easier on you and your company, here is a breakdown of HIPAA Consent Forms, HIPAA Authorization, and what is needed to obtain each. The tricky part is, HIPAA consent is oftentimes (unknowingly) referring to HIPAA Authorization! It can be confusing to understand the difference between the need for a HIPAA Consent Form and HIPAA Authorization.
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