If a subpoena orders a copy of a patient's "records" does a health provider have to provide ALL records including all charts from every department?

A patient is unable to respond and the hospital does not know his/her identity. Can the patient's picture be disseminated to the police and press to help with the identification process?

Can the police demand to know if a wanted criminal (warrant out for arrest) is being treated in a health care facility?

Can a health care provider (nurse, physician) contact the police if a patient confesses to a crime to him or her? How about if the health care provider merely overhears the confession being made to another person within the health care facility?

A patient provides his/her medical records to a non-health care provider who is not covered by HIPAA. Are those records still covered by HIPAA rules in any way; that is, can the person who has the patient medical records share them with anyone?

A patient of a facility being treated for an ailment tells his nurse that he stole some drugs from the unit he works on. Can the nurse tell HR or security?

Yes, since they have a warrant, And they may enter that facility also, up to secure rooms that they may guard.


They are required to provide all of the records asked for in the subpoena, Normally all charts and records are on the mater record anyway


Depends on the reason, if because of criminal activity, yes


Yes of course they can, in many cases they are required to. Yes they can.

Local police present a warrant of arrest. What information can and cannot be provided to the police?

If the person is there, iif it is safe to take him out of hospital, and if they are arresting him, what is wrong in case they need to continue treatment after arrested.

Requests for information from jail and prison is one of the exemptions in HIPPA

The provider must supply all records that are requested on the subpoena. "All" records are not always requested, normally just those deemed relevant to the case at hand.

Pictures can be disseminated for ID purposes under the circumstances you state. Once the facility has been able to ID the patient, the disclosure of the pics should be logged (typical HIPAA disclosure accounting process).

Yes, a facility can confirm a patient's presence to law enforcement. This is covered under the "Uses and Disclosures Required by Law" section of the HIPAA Privacy Rules; the facility can disclose the patient's presence without authorization from the patient, but must log the disclosure (again, typical HIAA disclosure accounting process).

Yes, a provider may disclose, without the patient's authorization, information about a crime associated with the patient, to law enforcement. Again, covered under the "Uses and Disclosures Required by Law" section of the Privacy Rules. Disclosure accounting by the provider/facility applies.

Once the patient voluntarily hands over their records to any person or organization that is *not* covered by HIPAA, then those records are no longer protected by HIPAA. Whoever the records are given to may have their own privacy rules to abide by, but HIPAA does not apply.

In most, if not all, states, as well as at the federal level, the nurse has an absolute obligation to inform law enforcement. This specific crime is called "Crimes on Premises" under the "Uses and Disclosures Required by Law" section of the HIPAA Privacy Rules. The patient's authorization for disclosure is not required; the facility/provider must utilize the disclosure accounting process, though.

Hope this helps.

Lane Hatcher
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