Question

According to hipaa guidelines, when do healthcare professionals have permission to share your information without your express consent?

Answer 1

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule provides consumers with important privacy rights and protections with respect to their health information,
including important controls over how their health information is used and disclosed by health plans and health care providers. Ensuring strong privacy protections is critical to maintaining individuals’ trust in their health care providers and willingness to obtain needed health care services, and these protections are especially important where very sensitive information is concerned, such as mental health information. At the same time, the Privacy Rule recognizes circumstances arise where health information may need to be shared to ensure the patient receives the best treatment and for other important purposes, such as for the health and safety of the patient or others. The Rule is carefully balanced to allow uses and disclosures of information—including mental health information—for treatment and these other purposes with appropriate protections.
In this guidance, we address some of the more frequently asked questions about when it is appropriate under the Privacy Rule for a health care provider to share the protected health information of a patient who is being treated for a mental health condition. We clarify when HIPAA permits health care providers to:
• Communicate with a patient’s family members, friends, or others involved in the patient’s care;
• Communicate with family members when the patient is an adult;
• Communicate with the parent of a patient who is a minor;
• Consider the patient’s capacity to agree or object to the sharing of their information;
• Involve a patient’s family members, friends, or others in dealing with patient failures to
adhere to medication or other therapy;
• Listen to family members about their loved ones receiving mental health treatment;
• Communicate with family members, law enforcement, or others when the patient presents a
serious and imminent threat of harm to self or others; and
• Communicate to law enforcement about the release of a patient brought in for an emergency
psychiatric hold.

Answer 2

When you are unable physically or mentally to understand or hear the information, when the information if not told to your caretaker or close family member could hurt yourself or others around you, also when there is a criminal matter and police need to know to protect the public from harm

Step-by-step explanation:

If you are in a comma or not mentally stable you would not be able to process information correctly and would have to be told to close friend or family member. If there is something that can cause the patient to harm himself or others. Lastly when this person has committed a crime and the police need to know how to deal with the person. For example if the person needs to go to a mental hospital. HOPE THIS HELPS!!!