In our most recent post, the Top 5 Common HIPAA Mistakes to Avoid in 2018, we noted that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has recently published guidance on disclosing protected health information (PHI) related to overdose victims. OCR published this and other guidance within the last two months in response to the Opioid Crisis gripping the nation and confusion regarding when and to whom PHI of patient’s suffering from addiction or mental illness may be disclosed.

Pills and capsules on white backgroundTo make the guidance easily accessible to patients and health care professionals, OCR published two webpages, one dedicated to patients and their family members and the other dedicated to professionals.

  • Patients and their family members can find easy-to-read commentary addressing the disclosure of PHI in situations of overdose, incapacity or other mental health issues here.
  • Physicians and other health care professionals can find similar fact sheets tailored to their roles as covered entities here.
  • OCR also recently issued a two-page document summarizing its guidance on when health care professionals may disclose PHI related to opioid abuse and incapacity [accessible here].

The main points from this guidance include:

  1. If a patient has the capacity to make decisions regarding his or her health care, a health care professional may not generally share any PHI with family, friends or others involved in the patient’s care (or payment for care), unless the patient consents to such disclosure.  However, a health care professional may disclose PHI if there is a serious and imminent threat of harm to the patient’s health and the provider in good faith believes that the individual to whom the information is disclosed would be reasonably able (or in a position) to prevent or lessen such threat. According to OCR, in the context of opioid abuse, this rule allows a physician to disclose information about the patient’s opioid abuse to any individual to whom the physician in good faith believes could reasonably prevent or lessen the harm that could be caused by the patient’s continued opioid abuse following discharge.
  2. If the patient is incapacitated or unconscious, HIPAA allows health care professionals to disclose certain PHI to family and close friends without a patient’s permission where (i) the individuals are involved in the care of the patient, (ii) the health care professional determines that disclosing the information is in the best interests of the patient, and (iii) the PHI shared is directly related to the family or friend’s involvement in the patient’s health care (or payment for such health care). As an example, OCR clarified that a physician may, in his or her professional judgment, share PHI regarding an opioid overdose and related medical information with the parents of someone who is incapacitated due to an overdose.
  3. OCR also addressed the difficult situation where a patient is severely intoxicated or unconscious, but may regain sufficient capacity to make health care decisions several hours after arriving in the emergency room.   In such situations, HIPAA would allow a physician or nurse to share PHI related to the patient’s overdose and medical condition with the patient’s family or close personal friends while the patient is incapacitated, so long as the nurse or doctor believes that it is in the patient’s best interest to do so and the information shared with the family member or friend is related to the individual’s involvement in the patient’s health care.

OCR published similar guidance, available at the above websites, regarding the disclosure of PHI related to the mental health of a patient.  Included in that guidance is clarification that HIPAA does not prohibit treating physicians from sharing PHI of a patient with a mental illness or substance use disorder for treatment purposes, except in the case of psychotherapy notes.

However, it is important to understand that OCR’s guidance on these issues does not supersede state laws or other federal laws or rules of medical ethics that would apply to disclosure of a patient’s PHI, including the federal confidentiality regulations [located at 42 CFR Part 2] pertaining to patient records maintained in connection with certain federally-assisted substance use disorder treatment programs.  The “Part 2” regulations (as well as state patient confidentiality laws that are more restrictive than HIPAA) could prohibit some or all of the disclosures which OCR has now clarified are permitted under HIPAA.

If you have a question regarding how this new guidance may affect your practice, please contact a knowledgeable attorney.