Is a hospital permitted to contact another hospital or health care facility, such as a nursing home, to which a patient will be transferred for continued care, without the patient's authorization?

Answer:

Yes. The HIPAA Privacy Rule permits a health care provider to disclose protected health information about an individual, without the individual’s authorization, to another health care provider for that provider’s treatment or payment purposes, as well as to another covered entity for certain health care operations of that entity. See 45 CFR 164.506, links to an external website and the definitions of “treatment,” “payment,” and “health care operations” at 45 CFR 164.501, links to an external website.

Date Created: 12/19/2002