Health Information Compliance Alert
Reader Question ~ "MARKETING," "RESEARCH" OR JUST PLAIN QA?
PDF
Question: I work for a chemical dependency care facility, and we're considering creating new services and products, but we'd like former patients to provide input on what they found most useful to them. Is contacting former patients for the purpose of creating new products/services considered "marketing" under HIPAA? Answer: The answer to this question depends on how you're planning to use a patient's protected health information and what you're planning to contact these former patients for. "It's certainly permissible for a provider to use an individual's PHI to talk with them about treatment or services or products that they offer, just like an insurance company can contact its members to tell them about a new benefit or something of that nature," advises Brian Gradle, an attorney with the Washington office of Hogan & Hartson.
Where you can get into trouble is if you're using peoples' health information to contact them about something unrelated to that treatment or for a more commercial enterprise like fundraising, says Gradle. But HIPAA doesn't prohibit you from talking treatment with former patients.
Health Information Compliance Alert
- PRIVACY COMPLIANCE ~ 8 Questions To Ask When Drafting HIPAA Sanction Policies
Have you recently taken a look at your list of what constitutes a violation of [...] - Electronic Health Records ~ You Could Soon Get Help Upgrading Your Computer Systems
CMS, OIG loosen up on donations of e-prescription, EHR systems. Hospitals will be able to [...] - You Be The Security Expert ~ Do We Need A Backup For Our Audits?
Read the situation below and decide how you would handle it before you compare it [...] - Privacy Compliance ~ Use This Advice To Prevent Privacy Breaches In Your Clinical Lab
Direct or indirect treatment provider? Know your obligations. Many labs may still be unsure about [...] - Privacy Tips ~ Fine Tune Your Lab's HIPAA Compliance With These 3 Tips
Don't let lab data streams spill over into privacy violations. While clinical labs may occupy [...] - Training ~ Keep HIPAA Simple:
Link Privacy Training To Jobs For Best Results
Are your business associate relationships properly labeled? Teaching staff about HIPAA can be daunting, but [...] - Reader Question ~ "MARKETING," "RESEARCH" OR JUST PLAIN QA?
Question: I work for a chemical dependency care facility, and we're considering creating new services [...] - Reader Question ~ PHI DISCLOSURE AND THE BADGE
Question: Here's a hypothetical situation, but one that happens all too often: A traffic accident [...] - Reader Question ~ SIGN BEFORE TEST RESULTS GO ON THE NET
Question: If a patient wishes to have test results sent to him via e-mail and [...] - INDUSTRY NEWS ~ Will Your Computers Be Able To Talk To Each Other?
House and Senate set to hash out fate of health IT. Stay tuned: You could [...] - Compliance Tool:
2 Response Letters Keep Patients Posted On Complaints
Put your actions in writing and protect against further criticism.
Don't let your patients think that [...]