Violation of HIPAA disclosure between child's school & Physician's office?
Thank you in advance for any responses.
A child has been re-admitted to school with appropriate clearance after surgery, but with limitations set forth in a physician’s letter. For clarification, a school nurse called the Physician's office regarding some of the restrictions. As the parent were not notified, they objected to the contact without their notification and informed the Physician's office not to disclose any further information without their express consent. At that time a notice alert was placed on the electronic chart, which stated that this patient was not to be discussed with anyone except the parents.
The following day, it was disclosed that the Physician's office manager spoke with at least 2people regarding the child's care without any appropriate consent and was unable to identify any of the persons which information was disclosed to, beyond "we spoke to the school twice"
My questions is, is it permissible for a physician's office to disclose information to a child's school over the express objections of the parents in a situation such as the above? Keeping in mind that there was no urgent matter at hand, nor was there any threat to the child's well being.
If there is applicable HIPAA section, quotes or appropriate case law on a matter remotely similar to the above, I would greatly appreciate someone pointing me in the proper direction, thank you again for any assistance.