Re: US LAW CONSULTANTS criminal civil

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I work extensively with HIPAA, and I would be interested to see
where exactly it is spelled out in HIPAA that physicians can
release information to employers -- outside of writing work
excuses, limiting work duties, etc. In addition, there is an
extra level of confidentiality surrounding release of
information pertaining to mental health, chemical dependency,
and HIV status. If the employee being described here did not
request time off from work, and did not give permission to
contact the employer regarding ability to work, I'm having a
hard time seeing how privilege is waived by the employee. That
would be tantamount to saying that any physician who feels that
a patient's medical condition could/might impact his/her job
could then call the patient's employer to report this without
the patient's permission...which sounds antithetical to the
purpose of HIPAA. If this were indeed the case, it would
actually be in the best interest of patients to refuse to
provide any information regarding their employment, employer,
and job functions in order to protect their
confidentiality...which can undermine the patient-physician
relationship since job duties can place patients at risk for
some conditions, or job-related exposures can contribute to
other conditions.

Sounds a bit shady to me.

On 3/27/08, big dawg wrote:
> as soon as the doctor gave up any information regarding the
> health of the employee in terms of the work force, PRIVELIGE
IS
> WAIVED, any further Criminal or Civil suits will then be
placed
> on the Doctor of whom divulged the info. The doctor does in
> fact claim the right to divulge the information to the
> employer, except for in extreme cases, when it is not
> necessary. Ex. DR: My patient has a VD. this does not have
> anything to do with the workforce in this instance.
>
> Ex 2 DR: My patient has the VD Scabies and should not be
> around anyone who is currently being nursed until he/she is
> found rid of the VD and therefore can return to work