Home Health & Hospice Week

Don’t fall into HIPAA non-compliance due to a common myth. If a patient passes away, that doesn’t make his or her HIPAA agreement null and void. In fact, the HIPAA Privacy Rule protects a patient’s individually identifiable health information for 50 years after the date of death, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

“During the 50-year period of protection, the personal representative of the decedent (i.e., the person under applicable law with authority to act on behalf of the decedent or the decedent’s estate) has the ability to exercise the rights under the Privacy Rule with regard to the decedent’s health information, such as authorizing certain uses and disclosures of, and gaining access to, the information,” HHS says in 45 CFR 160.103 of the Privacy Rule.

Keep in mind that if a family member needs information about the decedent’s health care specifically for the family member’s own health care treatment, the practice “may disclose a decedent’s protected health information, without authorization, to the health care provider who is treating the surviving relative,” HHS says on its website in a separate question and answer.