HHS clarifies medical records privacy rule

More explanations and perhaps changes to the regulation are to come.

By Amy Snow Landa, AMNews staff. July 23, 2001.

Washington -- The final rule for protecting the privacy of personal health information is not intended to prohibit physicians from talking with other health care professionals about a patient's treatment, according to recently released government guidelines.

The Dept. of Health and Human Services guidance answers a series of common questions about the new requirements for physicians, hospitals and others who handle patients' personal health information.

When physicians and nurses talk to each other or with a patient about providing care, the rule would require privacy safeguards that are "reasonable" but that would not hinder appropriate medical treatment, the document states.

For example, the rule is not intended to prevent doctors from speaking loudly in a busy emergency area to ensure appropriate treatment. Nor is it meant to prevent physicians from discussing lab test results with a patient or another health care professional in a joint treatment area.

These practices would be "permissible, if reasonable precautions are taken to minimize ... inadvertent disclosures to others who may be nearby (such as using lowered voices, talking apart)," the guidance states. "We also understand that overheard communications are unavoidable."

HHS will release additional guidelines on the medical records privacy rule, but this first one "is an opening step in helping physicians, health care providers and health plans understand their obligations," said HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson. [...]