HIPAA Privacy Rule and Sharing Information Related to Mental Health

Course overview

Course Objectives: Explain at least one key factor of the HIPAA Privacy Rule as it relates to the mental health field. Describe at least two clinical circumstances in which sharing client information is permitted. Identify who is entitled to information while treating a minor. Discuss one HIPAA protection for psychotherapy notes. Course Outline: Background Questions and Answers about HIPAA and Mental Health Does HIPAA allow a health care provider to communicate with a patient’s family, friends, or other persons who are involved in the patient’s care? Does HIPAA provide extra protections for mental health information compared with other health information? Is a health care provider permitted to discuss an adult patient’s mental health information with the patient’s parents or other family members? When does mental illness or another mental condition constitute incapacity under the Privacy Rule? For example, what if a patient who is experiencing temporary psychosis or is intoxicated does not have the capacity to agree or object to a health care provider sharing information with a family member, but the provider believes the disclosure is in the patient’s best interests? If a health care provider knows that a patient with a serious mental illness has stopped taking a prescribed medication, can the provider tell the patient’s family members? Can a minor child’s doctor talk to the child’s parent about the patient’s mental health status and needs? At what age of a child is the parent no longer the personal representative of the child for HIPAA purposes? Does a parent have a right to receive a copy of psychotherapy notes about a child’s mental health treatment? What options do family members of an adult patient with mental illness have if they are concerned about the patient’s mental health and the patient refuses to agree to let a health care provider share information with the family? Does HIPAA permit a doctor to contact a patient’s family or law enforcement if the doctor believes that the patient might hurt herself or someone else? If a doctor believes that a patient might hurt himself or herself or someone else, is it the duty of the provider to notify the family or law enforcement authorities? Does HIPAA prevent a school administrator, or a school doctor or nurse, from sharing concerns about a student’s mental health with the student’s parents or law enforcement authorities?