How HIPAA Allows Doctors to Respond to the Opioid Crisis
When HIPAA allows information sharing.
Guidance issued by OCR explaining how HIPAA allows health care professionals to disclose PHI without a patient’s consent in certain emergency situations, such as when a patient is unconscious or to prevent a serious and imminent threat to a patient’s health or safety.
Key Points
- HIPAA permits health care professional to share health information, without a patient’s permission, with a patient’s loved ones in emergency or dangerous situations.
- Additionally, HIPAA anticipates that a patient’s decision-making capacity may change over the course of treatment and if a patient regains capacity a provider must offer the patient an opportunity to agree or object to any additional sharing of PHI.
Related Resources
CoE-PHI resource to summarize recent OCR guidance about sharing information with family members after an overdose.