Notice of Privacy Act Question

[Pro_EMT]

My grandmother was recently taken to the hospital by my squad and MONOC ALS unit. Upon arrival at the hospital the medic kindly asked my P.O.S. uncle to sign the HIPPA/Notice of Privacy Act. My POS uncle wanted to read the PCR before signing.

I explained to him there are rules and regulations reguarding obtaining the information on the PCR. He refused to sign the HIPPA/Notice of Privacy Act, due to the fact the medic refused to let him read the PCR. MY POS UNCLE is pissed at me telling me i dont know what im talking about.

My understanding of the HIPPA/Notice of Privacy Act states that the Pt. health information will only be disclosed for several reasons. First the Pt. health information or PHI will only be disclosed from one healthcare professional to another/ Treatment for the Pt. Second the PHI will be disclosed to insurance companies for billing purposes. THIRD (which i explain to him) the Notice of Privacy act states how you can get a copy of the PCR once it has been finalized. And that the MEDIC has the right to not disclose any of his findings until after the Notice of Privacy act was signed and he follows the companies policys.

Now my POS uncles argument is that he has the right to refuse to sign somthing that he cannot read. And i agree however I explained to him that he is not signing the PCR but the Notice of Privacy act/HIPPA explaining how the Pt. PHI will be used and if he wants to see this is how.

Than he further states he does not have the right to sign because he is not next in line. I explained that as long as my grandmother verbalizes to the medic he can sign than it is ok, and the medic will sign as a witness. I also explained that he didnt have to ask him to sign because he could right Unable to sign due to: and explain why example Pt. was too weak due to undiagnosed illness.

BY THE WAY POS stands for Peace of shit uncle! anybody who can give me some sort of documentation that confirms what i am saying will be appreciated. if i am wrong can sombody provide me with facts.

[Chief1C]

HIPAA

[Ridryder 911]

Your uncle has the right to refuse to sign. The only thing the signature is for is acknowledging that you have received the information and understand the usage of HIPPA in the health care system, as you described.

Albeit that it sounds that your uncle is a little cantankerous , but at least tries to be safe.

I recommend any HIPPA site on the web that describes the intent and usage.

R/r 911

[VentMedic]

Does your uncle have DPOA?

Does your grandmother want your uncle knowing her medical information?

A HIPAA Notice signature is not a wavier for the right or privacy or the right to disclose information to unauthorized persons. This may include other family members (husbands and wives included) unless specified by the patient. All of the general good sense privacy rights are still intact.

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/

http://www.mylegalnews.com/ilsdocs/Archives/03_2004.htm

[letmesleep]

have to go with Rid on this one........doesn't matter if your uncle is a POS, SOB, or just a simple BH........he doesn't have to sign anything.

My question is: Did the medic explain to your uncle how to go about getting a copy of the PCR, and what it was that he was being asked to sign? this could have made a huge difference (maybe not) with your uncle.

Can't fault him for being cautious, and questioning the medical providers. If more peeps did this we would more than likely not see little grandma with 3 Doctors and a list of meds that hit the floor contradicting each other.

[Dustdevil]

have to go with Rid on this one........doesn't matter if your uncle is a POS, SOB, or just a simple BH........he doesn't have to sign anything.

Word. I don't sign anything I don't read carefully, and neither should he or you. Your system is flawed if it is asking people to sign something that they do not have full understanding of.

We see the results of this everyday here at EMT City. People sign up and agree to the Terms Of Service, and then immediately start posting in a manner contrary to the rules they agreed to because they didn't bother to read what they were signing up for. Such lazy and uninformed people piss me off, and are an embarrassment to the profession.

Kudos to your uncle for not being one of them. I'm curious what you or anybody else would have done to stop him from reading the PCR if he had chosen to. What are you going to do? Assault him? Rip it out of his hands? Get real.

[Chief1C]

We always offer the patient, power of at., etc. if they would like a copy of anything they are to sign. We also offer a copy after they have signed it, or the chance to read it over then either mail it to us, or have the ER clerk put it in our "in box" at the billing office.

As for the PCR, I don't have anything to hide, they can read it. If they rip it up, or won't give it back, I'll just write it again. Only patient I won't let read the PCR, is a behavioral. I'll give them one w/ their name, etc, but write out the narrative on another. Wouldn't want anyone that is ready to kill me, to think I've wronged them. I can always write more on at the ER if necessary.

[medic5740]

I wrote some fictional EMS stories about situations that have occurred in our community. I changed patient age, locations, etc., disguising the patient information including dates, time of the year, etc.

Here is my question: Did I violate HIPAA by providing general information about the types of medical and trauma emergencies that occurred in my community? In other words, does historical fiction violate HIPAA?

The townships' lawyers state that I violated patient privacy and HIPAA by revealing information in the stories, even if the patient could not be identified by the general population.

Did I violate HIPAA? Did I violate patient privacy?

[Chief1C]

Ask a lawyer.. or start making up your own patients.

[tskstorm]

Word. I don't sign anything I don't read carefully, and neither should he or you. Your system is flawed if it is asking people to sign something that they do not have full understanding of.

We see the results of this everyday here at EMT City. People sign up and agree to the Terms Of Service, and then immediately start posting in a manner contrary to the rules they agreed to because they didn't bother to read what they were signing up for. Such lazy and uninformed people piss me off, and are an embarrassment to the profession.

Kudos to your uncle for not being one of them. I'm curious what you or anybody else would have done to stop him from reading the PCR if he had chosen to. What are you going to do? Assault him? Rip it out of his hands? Get real.

The way our PCR is written the hippa is on the front, there is NO medical information on that side. there is also an explanation paragraph explaining, it, and we explain it as well.

Never run into the problem of them wanting to read the back, as they are not signing anything on the back.