HIPPA and law enforcement

[gdowkpc]

Anyone had any issues when dealing with hospitals with these new HIPPA laws. I have been forced to spend my weekend researching the laws because the hospitals here have been varying so widely on what information they will disclose to us, and my department has done seemingly nothing to work out the kinks.

Here are the 2 scenarios that has led to the problem here:

Two days ago I got a call from a hospital that a subject was brought into the hospital in our jurisdiction by another outside jurisdiction for a medical problem. They had discovered the patient had a warrant and the officers asked the hospital to call police to come pick him up when he was to be released. I took the call and transported the person to jail without a hitch.

The issue there is whether or not the hospital is allowed to inform anyone of the presence of a patient. I say yes...so here's the second scenario:

An officer yesterday made a traffic stop on a possible DUII driver only to discover a diabetic emergency. The driver was transported to a different hospital than mentioned above by ambulance with the officer following. The driver had botha felony and misdemeanor warrant.

The officer asked the hospital to call police when the patient was to be released so he could be transported. The hospital refused citing a HIPPA violation. However, the hospital told the officer the extent of the tests they were about to perform on the subject and that it would take about 2 hours to complete. An officer was forced to wait for the patient to walk out into the emergency room doors to make the arrest.

Today, I went to the US Dept of Human Services web-site and did some research. I found that law enforcement can be notified of 'protected information' under several circumstances, including abuse.

But specifically relevent to this problem is a section 45 CFR 164.512(g) entitled: disclosure for law enforcement purposes. It says a hospital may release 'protected information', which includes date and time of treatment, to law enforcement when it relates to identifying or locating a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person. This can be done without the consent of the patient.

Since it mentions date and time of treatment, wouldn't it be the same to say that the treatment would end at a specific time and the patient would no longer be a patient at the hospital? Thereforem the hospital would be within the law to make the call as requested by officer's. And since a valid arrest warrant is on file, the officer would then be permitted by law to enter an emergency room and arrest the subject.

It is also an intersting side note that the second hospital, which was so adamant about not calling police back, disclosed the nature of the treatment being administered to the patient. The nature of the treatment provided no purpose to law enforcement, which in my belief was a violation of HIPPA. Is the hospital just hostile towards police or just ignorant on what inforamation can be realesed?

Has anyone else received any training on the HIPPA issue as it related to law enforcement or had any other situations?

I am taking this information to my Sergeant in a effort to get something going within the Bureau to help educate hospitals and officers here.

[Stump]

See here for another thread on HIPPA.
I spoke with 537 several times via email, and he has some really wonderful literature and new policies for his PD on the subject. I can forward what I have to you, but I would prefer to get his permission first. You can try emailing him, or I can. He just was promoted to Captain, so he is busier, but I have confidence he will get back to you.
HIPPA is more than an annoyance, I think, to LE. I have had more dealings with hospitals than I care to think about. Personally, I have ways of getting information. It is not something I would care to share out in a public forum, but if you want to know, you can PM me. I (not the cop) am the one to have to talk to the hospitals in about 85% of the situations.