Corrections Community

okay folks - ring in on this question.... question raised by our medical administrator

Is HIPAA impuned by the fact that inamte names are on the medication packets that the medical staff bring inot the housing units? 

As the Staff passess out meds, they check for the speicfic inmate's name and match it to armband, etc and pass on the meds.   Does the nature of names on packets, and potentially seen by others, equate to HIPAA violation?  Or does their response by presenting one's self via the calling out of inmates for medication pass, either by name or by announcing med pass time equate to self-disclosure.

 

JJ Larson, Mental Health Administrator and (recently appointed) Sr Privacy Official, GCDC - Greenville , SC

I would think that as long as there is not a discussion about what the person is being treated for you should be fine.  If the information about the inmate is not being broadcast any incidental viewing would not override the facility safety and security practice.  I would suggest keeping a reasonable distance between the inmate being served meds and the next one in line to keep potential viewers at a hard to read distance.  If using a med cart having one medication at a time out of the cart would help.  Med call is a fact of life in jail or prison and making reasonable attempts at safe guarding information should keep you out of trouble.

Common sense does not always prevail it should be intersting to see the responses you receive.

 

Mr. Larson

No. If you reas 45 CFR 164.528 (I think) you will find an exception when dealing with law enforcement. Staff need to take care that they are not being boisterous or calling out an inmates name and medication, this could cause a problem with 24 CFR 2, though I believe there is an exception there for correctional facilities. Lv

I do not think that correctional facilities are totally exempt from HIPAA. The National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) has an article at http://www.ncchc.org/pubs/cc/hipaa.html if you care to read it. The article does not answer the question about medication passing, but it does provide some information. I do not think that overhearing an inmate’s name and the medication he or she is taking constitutes a HIPAA violation, but that is my opinion. Nevertheless, like everything else in law enforcement, an issue will not be made unless an incident arises with a complaint from an inmate or someone makes a very bad decision divulging an inmate’s information.