Personal Medical Leave

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Can you take a medical leave without providing your diagnosis? Ex can HIPPA protect me?

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Specializes in Palliative, Onc, Med-Surg, Home Hospice.

You'll need to look at your facilities policy but it's unlikely they are going to approve leave without FMLA and you DO need a diagnosis for FMLA.

HIPAA (Not HIPPA) has NOTHING whatever to do with leave.

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No, I don't think you have to provide the diagnosis. See link to FMLA paperwork. I mean yeah you need a diagnosis but the diagnosis does not have to be written on the FMLA paperwork. (I don't think).

https://www.dol.gov/whd/forms/WH-380-E.pdf

If this is for a drug, alcohol, or psychiatric problem, don't be afraid to take FMLA.

Question #4 would have to be creatively worded to not give the diagnosis away, but I'm very sure a psychiatrist would know how to word this. Here's another link to a guide for doctors on filling this out. Look at around the middle and see the footnotes to question 4.

FMLA for Doctors and Health Professionals (Medical Certifications) | ToughNickel

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https://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/employeeguide.pdf

See the end of page 7.

"You do not have to tell your employer your diagnosis, but you do need to provide information indicating that your leave is due to an FMLA-protected condition (for example, stating that you have been to the doctor and have been given antibiotics and told to stay home for four days)."

Just talk to your our healthcare provider about wording this in a way that will not give the diagnosis away.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

I've seen doctor's orders with ICD-9 codes for diagnoses. Would that be discreet enough?

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