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submitted 1 year ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is facing a federal civil rights investigation after turning the medical records of transgender patients over to Tennessee’s attorney general, hospital officials have confirmed.

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[-] bauhaus@lemmy.ml 25 points 1 year ago

how is this not a HIPAA violation?

[-] lostinapotatofield@kbin.social 20 points 1 year ago

It likely fell under a permitted disclosure, as the AG stated they were pursuing a billing fraud investigation. Maybe still a case, if the disclosure was unnecessarily broad though.

Per Health and Human Services:

Health Oversight Activities. Covered entities may disclose protected health information to health oversight agencies (as defined in the Rule) for purposes of legally authorized health oversight activities, such as audits and investigations necessary for oversight of the health care system and government benefit programs.

https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/laws-regulations/index.html

[-] bauhaus@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

wow, thanks for the very specific answer.

as always, cruelty is the point.

[-] chaogomu@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago

General bigotry.

It is a HIPAA violation, but the bigots say that trans people aren't people, so HIPAA doesn't apply. They fucked around and now just might find out. Sadly, they've already done a lot of damage be releasing this information.

[-] bauhaus@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 year ago

so fucked up

[-] DougHolland@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago

Wow and a half — everywhere I've worked in the health biz, even before HIPAA, patient confidentiality was the prime directive.

The article doesn't even say there was a search warrant, only a request for records from Tennessee's horrific Attorney General. If there was a legal demand for the records, it should've been fought, but instead the records were turned over pronto, with no redactions of personal information, and the patients weren't notified until months later.

In a sane world, that would cost Vanderbilt a lot of millions of dollars, but I've looked at a map of the galaxy and you can't get to a sane world from here.

[-] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

Good jail the person who turn over the records.

[-] kitonthenet@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago
[-] HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Doesn't matter. Even if they lose every penny the damage has already been done. These people should be punched or worse, not just fined.

this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2023
198 points (98.5% liked)

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