Everyone values medical privacy. But relatively few people have a good understanding of how privacy laws work.
Even doctors and hospital staff sometimes misunderstand what they’re allowed to share, which can lead to patients and caregivers being denied access to important information. Here are answers to 11 questions about privacy laws concerning accessing medical information for your loved one and for yourself.
“HIPAA sometimes is just something that people toss out there as a justification for not providing information,” says lawyer Eric Carlson, director of long-term services and support advocacy at Justice in Aging, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization.
