HIPAA Blog

[ Thursday, July 19, 2018 ]

 

There's an interesting article in USA Today on the seeming trend in doctors and hospitals suing individuals who post bad reviews on Yelp and other physician-rating sites, or on other social media.  If the review is factually false, threatening, or otherwise problematic, there may be grounds for a lawsuit by the medical provider.  However, even if the review is false, the medical provider still cannot disclose PHI in responding to the bad review, unless the patient consents.  Even though the patient may disclose the same information already, the provider's hands are tied by HIPAA: he/she cannot use or disclose PHI except for a permitted purpose, and responding to a complaint or even a defamatory statement is not a permitted purpose.

Jeff [12:16 PM]

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