HIPAA Violation

[nyalaskan]

My question involves civil rights in the State of: Alaska

I am not even sure that I am in the right forum, but I am going to need to find someone for my husband and I to talk to. Someone has posted my husbands health issues on a web site. He is just beside himself, and really quite sick over it. I need to know who I can call to ask some questions... does anyone have some suggestions?

[cbg]

How did this someone get hold of his health information? It makes a BIG difference what, if any, recourse he has.

[aaron]

The act almost certainly violates the webhost's terms of service, so he may be able to get them to pull the plug on the site if he complains.

[cbg]

However, who put the information on the website and how they obtained it makes all the difference as to whether HIPAA was violated or not. HIPAA is nowhere near as broad and does not protect anywhere near as much as most people believe.

[nyalaskan]

He was given a grant from an agency that is a branch of a federal agency. To qualify he must have some disability. The person who assisted him with the grant asked if they could present his case to other agency personnel, that person as well as my husband were under the impression that the information was going to stay between those with in the agency only, now it is on a website with a direct link to his business website, and has a photo of him and all. He was not told about any of this, he found it by accident. He questioned the person who originally asked if they could present it, and they were also surprised that it was on the internet.

[cbg]

He can certainly discuss it with an attorney if he likes (and I would definitely take Aaron's suggestion that he take it up with the website, but in my opinion, since your husband gave the information to the individual and gave his permission to share it with others in the agency, that's not going to violate HIPAA.

Not all individuals or even agencies are covered by HIPAA, and even the ones that are, are only required to protect certain information that they obtain through medical records or insurance plans. Information that is supplied by the individual whose medical information it is, is almost never protected by HIPAA.