Ethics Scenario - #3
September 25, 2008 | by Shannon Hiller |You work in the communications department of a local hospital. A major car accident, involving 25 people, occurred about 2 a.m. last night. A neighbor calls you and says that her 17-year-old high school son has not come home from visiting a friend in the neighborhood of the accident. You know that the accident involved adults; no teenagers or children have been admitted.
What can you ethically and legally tell your friend?
Guidance: Safeguarding Confidences
Although a person’s age is considered identifying information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), you can release information in general age ranges, i.e., “We received no victims who were minors.”
HIPAA regulations state that you can provide only a one-word patient condition, if the person calling has a name (usually obtained from police report) and if the patient or the legal guardian/medical Power of Attorney has not requested confidentiality. Anything beyond that requires written authorization.
