DB relates a story where HIPAA confusion led to the release of a wanted criminal. Should he have called the police regardless?
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If in his judgement it was the right thing to do, then he should have just called them instead of defering to security. If he wanted to have his cake and eat it to, he could have done so by anonymous tip.
We obviously aren’t going to go about calling the police on everyone who we somehow find out has an outstanding warrant. That is not our job. If, however, there is a manhunt going on for a dangerous criminal, then our civic duty is to act. One is not revealing confidential healthcare information, rather one is revealing the location of a fugitive. The fact that the location is a hospital is not the issue.
My reading of HIPAA is that it does not prohibit this disclosure. Was there a state law prohibiting it? Almost undoubtedly not. Worried about a tort? Doing the wrong thing is not usually the best way to avoid the risk of a suit and is not a morally defensible way in any case.
What would make anyone think that security would be an expert on the HIPAA reg? Did anyone in security read the HIPAA reg? I have heard seminars on HIPAA given by people who have never read it.
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