Patient privacy with people in the news?

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Ok, this is a probably a dumb question.

On the commute home they mentioned on the news that a shooting victim was in 'fair' condition at the hospital. But I thought HIPAA prevented the release of any patient information. How does that work?

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Specializes in Psych.
Ok, this is a probably a dumb question.

On the commute home they mentioned on the news that a shooting victim was in 'fair' condition at the hospital. But I thought HIPAA prevented the release of any patient information. How does that work?

HIPAA prevents any identifying information from being released. Reporting a person has been shot and is in fair condition does not identify the patient. Now if they said Joe Smith has been shot and is in fair condition I hope they would get a release of information from his next of kin for that because that would be a HIPAA violation if the hospital let that slip.

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Ah, I see. Thanks.

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Specializes in PICU, surgical post-op.

I work at a level one trauma center, so our patients are often in the news. Every morning, everyone gets listed as "fair' "serious" or "critical." If the news calls looking, that's all they're told, provided the family has okayed the release of their condition.

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