Disclosures of PHI as Permitted or Required by Law: Difference between revisions

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<br /><br />

Effective Date: '''Draft 08/19/22'''<br />

Revised Date: <br />

To establish guidelines for the disclosure of PHI as permitted or required by law in accordance with HIPAA and University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) policies.   

==Policy==

==Definitions==

===Individual===

An order of a court or of an administrative tribunal or a stipulation by the parties to litigation or an administrative proceeding that:  

*prohibits the parties from using or disclosing PHI for any purpose other than the litigation or proceeding for which such information was requested; and  

===Workforce===

Employees, medical staff, volunteers, trainees, and other persons whose conduct, in the performance of work for UNMC, is under the direct control of UNMC, whether or not they are paid by UNMC.

==Procedures==

*reports of suspected or observed '''child abuse or neglect''' (See Nebraska Medicine policies: Reporting Abuse, Neglect or Injury policy, PE 03; Infant Drug Testing Guidelines for Providers policy, SH21, and Drug Testing Guidelines for Providers: Pregnant and Postpartum Patients policy, AD48);

*“'''wounds of violence'''” – excluding sexual assaults (See Nebraska Medicine Reporting Abuse, Neglect or Injury policy, PE 03);

****The party has requested a QPO from the court or administrative tribunal.

**Disclosures of PHI pursuant to either of the options above must be limited to the requested information.

Disclosures may be made to the following persons/entities for the following '''public health activities''', provided such disclosures fall within your job responsibilities:  

*'''to a public health authority''' authorized by law to collect or receive PHI '''for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability''', including, but not limited to, the reporting of disease, injury, vital events such as birth or death and the conduct of public health surveillance, public health investigations and public health interventions (examples of public health authorities include: state and local health departments; the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA));  

*Qualification for, or receipt of, public benefits or services when an Individual's health is integral to the claim for public benefits or services.

Disclosure about decedents to a '''coroner or medical examiner''' for the purpose of identifying a deceased person, determining a cause of death, or other duties as authorized by law.

Disclosures for '''cadaveric organ, eye or tissue donation''' to organ procurement organizations.

Disclosures to '''prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person''' or the public consistent with applicable law, when believed in good faith to be necessary as follows:   

*for law enforcement authorities to identify or apprehend an Individual, either  

**because of a statement by an Individual admitting participation in a violent crime that staff reasonably believes may have caused serious physical harm to the victim (unless staff learns of this statement in the course of treatment to affect the propensity to commit the criminal conduct that is the basis for this disclosure, or counseling, or therapy (or through an Individual’s request to initiate or to be referred for such treatment, counseling or therapy), in which case such use or disclosure of PHI may NOT be made); or

**Unless there is a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public (in which case, see that section above), contact the Privacy Office, General Counsel’s office and/or Risk prior to making disclosures that are intended to enable law enforcement to identify or apprehend an Individual pursuant to the two bullets in this section above.

Uses and disclosures for specialized government functions.

*'''Protective services for the President and others'''. PHI may be disclosed to authorized Federal officials for the provision of protective services to the President or other legally authorized persons.

*Refer any questions about any of the above provisions and all other requests for government uses not clearly covered by this or another UNMC policy to the Privacy Office or General Counsel’s office.

==Additional Information==

*Contact the [mailto:privacy@nebraskamed.com Privacy Office] or at 402-559-5136.

*Contact [https://support.security.unmc.edu Office of Information Security] or 402-559-2545.

*Risk (consult Web On Call or the hospital operator to reach on-call Risk staff)  

*UNMC Policy No. 6045, [https://wiki.unmc.edu/index.php/Privacy/Confidentiality Privacy, Confidentiality and Security of Patient and Proprietary Information]

*UNMC Policy No. 6051, [https://wiki.unmc.edu/index.php/Computer_Use/Electronic_Information Computer Use/Electronic Information]

*UNMC Policy No. 6057, [https://wiki.unmc.edu/index.php/Use_and_Disclosure_of_Protected_Health_Information Use and Disclosure of Protected Health Information]

*Procedure for UNMC Policies No. 6051 and 6057, [https://info.unmc.edu/its-security/policies/procedures/electronic-comm-phi.html Electronic Communication of Protected Health Information]

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