My 4 year old’s speech therapist sent out a mass email to all the parents of children in the practice. In this email the email addresses of all the parents are available to be seen by all recipients. Some of which clearly identify the recipient. Isn’t this a violation of HIPAA laws?
Can a doctor (licensed speech therapist) disclose patients identities?
My 4 year old’s speech therapist sent out a mass email to all the parents of children in the practice. In this email the email addresses of all the parents are available to be seen by all recipients. Some of which clearly identify the recipient. Isn’t this a violation of HIPAA laws?
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June 5th, 2009 at 10:06 am
It seems you are right. From the site listed below:-
Although there may be some speech-language pathologists who are under the impression that they are exempt from HIPAA because they do not conduct certain electronic health information transactions, the fact is — they must still be compliant with HIPAA’s privacy and security regulations (Title II of the Act). HIPAA’s privacy rules provide individuals receiving treatment for speech disorders with safeguards to ensure their personal health information is adequately protected, and appropriately used to provide quality patient care.