What do you mean you can’t tell me what’s wrong with Aunt Bert? It’s a question we often get from families and friends at Azura Memory Care.
Unfortunately, exactly 20 years ago a special law was passed called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which does not allow for disclosure of individuals’ health information. While we understand that not knowing can be frustrating, per the legislation our Team at Azura is only allowed to give out information to the approved or appointed persons dictating the health care of our residents.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this Protected Health Information or PHI includes any “Individually identifiable health information” or information, including demographic data, that relates to:
and that identifies the individual or for which there is a reasonable basis to believe it can be used to identify the individual.13 Individually identifiable health information includes many common identifiers (e.g., name, address, birth date, Social Security Number).
As a family of care we understand the desire to know how other residents are doing, but please understand that per HIPPA and out of RESPECT for our residents and their families this information can’t be provided to you.
We have a saying at Azura, “If it were your loved one would you…” in this case want the whole world to know what was going on? Odds are the answer is “No.” We thank you for understanding and supporting every one in our family of care in RESPECTING privacy within our homes.
"We want to thank you for the loving special care you took of our mother, Diane. It was truly mom's home and you all became part of our family. Everything was home for her....from the beautiful rooms, large sunny windows all around, good food made with love, fun and personal activities from people who really loved our mom. We would highly recommend your facility to anyone. The staff from the director, to the doctor, to the nurse, to the caregivers and the maintenance man were all extremely helpful, caring, loving and professional. There are not enough words to say how much we appreciate all of you. Your exceptional care, kindness, and love were beyond anything we could have imagined. You were part of our family, and we will miss you." - Gail Sommers and Deborah Guse
2 Comments
Does this include not giving information any longer to the legal guardian?
Thank you for your response and question. Access to direct communication and information is granted, if the person for whom they give care has been deemed incapacitated by the medical or court system and the legally named representative is named as the primary power of attorney of either healthcare or finance or has been named guardian by a court of law.