Reference no: EM133377159

A person who was diagnosed with the contagious disease and treated at a small, regional hospital. She learned that personal information about her condition was released to the public when she was contacted by her employer, a small business that did not provide health benefits. Her employer that had been contacted by the local public health authority and provided her employer with information about her diagnosis, treatment, financial status, and those people with whom she has had contact in the past 2 weeks. Her information, but not her name, was reported by the local press. When she contacted the hospital to ask about this, she was told that this information was stored and administered by an external consultant, a practicing physician who was hired by her health insurance company. The hospital told her that they had no control over how much information the physician consultant could access or the actual release of information. She had signed a general release of liability that permitted the hospital to use her information as the hospital decided was necessary. She has filed a complaint under HIPAA against the hospital, her health insurance company, the physician consultant and her employer and the public authority for

1. What is the status of the physician consultant in this situation?

2. Which organizations are potentially liable under HIPAA for releasing this information? (Choose all that apply.)

3. What is the status of the hospital in this situation?

4. What potential violations of HIPAA occurred in this scenario? (Choose all that apply.)

5. Which organizations are potentially in violation of the minimum necessary rule? (Choose all that apply.)

6. What is the status of the insurance company in this situation

7. What is the effect of the general release of liability on the hospital?