HIPAA
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act includes privacy protections for patients that can be misunderstood and misapplied by health officials and health care organizations. In some instances, HIPAA has been improperly used to deny reporters’ requests for interviews with patients and clinicians or to obtain medical information. Reporters should be familiar with the law in order to understand when and to whom it applies.
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Key Resources
HIPAA experts: No need to request a waiver after Orlando shooting
Following a mass shooting in Orlando in 2016, there was some confusion about whether HIPAA’s privacy rules limited the information hospital officials could release. Joseph Burns clears up the issue.
Understanding HIPAA: A brief overview
This tip sheet spells out the basics of the privacy rule that went into effect in 2003.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: Health Information Privacy
Learn more about HIPAA and other privacy issues in health care.
Journalists get guidance on navigating HIPAA rules
(May 2015) Experts shared key points and tips during a panel at Health Journalism 2015.
What you need to know about medical privacy
(Updated July 2015) Consumer Reports explains key points about HIPAA.
HIPAA’s use as code of silence often misinterprets the law
(July 2015) New York Times piece on unintended, misguided citations of the privacy rule.
Additional Resources
Is HIPAA Creating More Problems Than It’s Preventing?
(2013) Hospital lawyers and risk managers, seeking to protect their organizations against lawsuits, overinterpret the law.
Clark Kauffman – Body of work
(2008) Kauffman’s award-winning stories about health care and HIPAA in Iowa.
HIPAA: Good intentions and unintended consequences
(March 2006) A lawyer offered this primer on HIPAA’s privacy rule at Health Journalism 2006.
A Reporter’s Guide to Medical Privacy Law (PDF)
A guide from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press on navigating the privacy rule.
HIPAA and Newsgathering: Basic Tips for Reporters and Editors
(Spring 2004) A guide from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on what HIPAA’s privacy rule should be used.
The Basics of HIPAA for Health Care Journalists
A lawyer’s presentation from Health Journalism 2003.