HIPAA no bar to revealing Levy's location, experts say

Mayor leaves, abandons office, spent time in an undisclosed hospital...officials want records...does it violate HIPAA or does it not? Interesting article on how to interpret HIPAA..BD

ATLANTIC CITY - Federal health law experts said health privacy laws are confusing, but should not keep city officials from revealing where the resort's mayor is. Mayor Bob Levy's last official duty came last Wednesday, when he signed seven ordinances into law. Since then he, and his black city-issued Dodge Durango, have apparently vanished. His attorney and city officials have said since Thursday he was in an undisclosed hospital receiving unspecified treatment. In the meantime, Business Administrator Domenic Cappella has served as acting mayor.

Adding to the problem is that top city officials say they know where he is, but providing more information would run afoul of the 1996 federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, commonly called HIPAA.

Not so, said Washington, D.C., attorney Kirk J. Nahra. He said HIPAA could cover some city officials who work with protected health information in the human resources department, but not top officials and others who know.
"HIPAA is an enormously confusing set of rules," he said. "I hear all the time of people saying I can't do something because of HIPAA."