[ Tuesday, May 31, 2016 ]
Yelp: HIPAA covered entities must be careful in
responding to Yelp reviews, good or bad (but especially bad). Just because the patient has posted his/her own PHI, doesn't mean the doctor, dentist, or other provider can.
You can, however, respond in a way that doesn't bring up a specific patient or discuss an individual's specific PHI. If a Yelp poster complains that "this provider did X," the provider can post that "my office policy is to never do X, and that I looked at all my files for all patient visits in the last year and could not find an instance of anyone doing X." But you shouldn't say you looked into that patient's files and didn't find X; in fact, you shouldn't even acknowledge that the poster is your patient.
Yes, it's unfair. Yes, the provider's hands are tied. But that's the way it goes.
Jeff [3:32 PM]
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