Disclosures to Family and Friends

Yes. The HIPAA Privacy Rule permits health care providers to communicate with patients regarding their health care.

A pharmacist may use professional judgment and experience with common practice to make reasonable inferences of the patient’s best interest in allowing a person, other that the patient, to pick up a prescription.

Covered hospitals and other covered health care providers can use a facility directory to inform visitors or callers about a patient’s location in the facility and general condition.

Yes. The Privacy Rule permits covered entities to maintain more than one type of patient directory, and to maintain multiple versions of them, provided that the other requirements at 45 CFR 164.510(a) also are followed.

The fact that a patient has been

The phone number of the patient's room in the facility may be released as part of the directory information about the patient's location in the facility, provided that the other requirements at 45 CFR 164.510(a) also are followed.

The HIPAA Privacy Rule, at 45 CFR 164.510(b), permits covered entities to notify, or assist in the notification of, family members, personal representatives, or other persons responsible for the care of the patient, of the patient’s location, general condition, or death.

The HIPAA Privacy Rule at 45 CFR 164.510(b) specifically permits covered entities to share information that is directly relevant to the involvement of a spouse, family members, friends, or other persons identified by a patient, in the patient’s care or payment for health care.

The HIPAA Privacy Rule permits a covered doctor or hospital to disclose protected health information to a person or entity that will assist in notifying a patient’s family member of the patient’s location, general condition, or death

Under the Privacy Rule, a covered entity such as a doctor can contact a patient using a Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS), without the need for a business associate contract with the TRS.

Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, may a health care provider disclose protected health information about an individual to another provider, when such information is requested for the treatment of a family member of the individual?

If I do not object, can my health care provider share or discuss my health information with my family, friends, or others involved in my care or payment for my care?

If I am unconscious or not around, can my health care provider still share or discuss my health information with my family, friends, or others involved in my care or payment for my care?

Do I have to give my health care provider written permission to share or discuss my health information with my family members, friends, or others involved in my care or payment for my care?

If my family or friends call my health care provider to ask about my condition, will they have to give my provider proof of who they are?

Can I have another person pick up my prescription drugs, medical supplies, or X-rays?

Can my health care provider discuss my health information with an interpreter?

How can I help make sure my health care providers share my health information with my family, friends, or others involved in my care or payment for my care when I want them to?

If the patient is present and has the capacity to make health care decisions, when does HIPAA allow a health care provider to discuss the patient’s health information with the patient’s family, friends, or others involved in the patient’s care or payment for care?

If the patient is not present or is incapacitated, may a health care provider still share the patient’s health information with family, friends, or others involved in the patient’s care or payment for care?

Does HIPAA require that a health care provider document a patient’s decision to allow the provider to share his or her health information with a family member, friend, or other person involved in the patient’s care or payment for care?

May a health care provider discuss a patient’s health information over the phone with the patient’s family, friends, or others involved in the patient’s care or payment for care?

If a patient’s family member, friend, or other person involved in the patient’s care or payment for care calls a health care provider to ask about the patient’s condition, does HIPAA require the health care provider to obtain proof of who the person is before speaking with them?

Can a patient have a family member, friend, or other person pick up a filled prescription, medical supplies, X-rays, or other similar forms of patient information, for the patient?

May a health care provider share a patient’s health information with an interpreter to communicate with the patient or with the patient’s family, friends, or others involved in the patient’s care or payment for care?

When a covered health care provider uses an interpreter to communicate with an individual, the individual’s authorization is not required when the provider meets the conditions below.

Yes, subject to the conditions set forth in 45 CFR 164.510(b) of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The Privacy Rule at 45 CFR 164.510(b) permits a health plan (or other covered entity) to disclose to a family member, relative, or close personal friend of the individual, the protected health information (PHI) directly relevant to that person’s involvement with the individual’s care or payment for care.

Yes. The HIPAA Privacy Rule at 45 CFR 164.510, links to an external website(b) permits covered entities to share with an individual’s family member, other relative, close personal friend, or any other person identified by the individual, the information directly relevant to the involvement of that person in the patient’s care or payment for health care.