Families Caring for an Aging America (2016) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix H: HIPAA and Caregivers' Access to Information
Appendix H: HIPAA and Caregivers' Access to Information
Pages 339-346
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From page 339... ...
The Privacy Rule, along with two related HHS rules addressing security and breach notification, seek to protect the privacy and security of persons seeking or receiving health care. The HIPAA penalties primarily target failures to preserve privacy and security, not failures to disclose information.
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From page 340... ...
Instead, it provides someone serving as caregiver with three possible avenues of access to a care recipient's protected health information. PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES A caregiver who is the individual's "personal representative" has the authority, under applicable law, to act on behalf of an individual in making decisions related to health care and has the same rights of access.3 The rule defers to state law to determine who has authority to act on behalf of the individual with respect to health care decisions.
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From page 341... ...
treating such person as the personal representative could endanger the individual; and the covered entity, in the exercise of professional judgment, decides that it is not in the best interest of the individual to treat the person as the individual's personal representative.5 HIPAA AUTHORIZATIONS AND DIRECTED RIGHT TO ACCESS The second avenue of access is for anyone to whom the individual has given a valid HIPAA authorization or a directed right to access. A HIPAA authorization is a document normally provided by one's health care provider, signed by the individual, that identifies the scope of information that 4 For deceased individuals, a person appointed executor or administrator of the individual's estate also bears the status of personal representative.
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From page 342... ...
. FAMILY AND FRIENDS The third avenue of access is for other family and friends who are not formally appointed personal representatives or designated persons under a written authorization, but who are involved in the person's health care or payment for health care in some way.
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From page 343... ...
. Under the Family and Friends Rule, health care providers exercise substantial discretion in determining what, if any, health information can be shared.
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From page 344... ...
Training offered in both the public and private sectors on the requirements of the HIPAA Privacy Rule could likewise address the essential role in care delivery and support played by family caregivers, and include guidance on identifying caregivers and sharing information with caregivers more inclusively, consistent with the best interests of the care recipient. In providing explicit recognition of caregivers, the HHS Office for Civil Rights could note that caregivers are already recognized in other federal laws for various purposes, for example: • for assistance and support services for caregivers from the U.S.
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From page 345... ...
VHA Information Access and Privacy Office.
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