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• HIPPA

© By Rhoda Baer

HIPAA legal definition: HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act  is a comprehensive law that, among other things, requires healthcare providers to protect the privacy and security of their patients’ medical information and not to disclose sensitive information without knowledge or consent. 

HIPPA in Medical Malpractice Cases

When a healthcare provider mishandles protected health information regarding their patients and it results in a HIPAA violation, a patient may want to sue. While it is not common for a provider to be sued solely on the grounds of a HIPAA violation, HIPAA rules often overlap with many state statutes regarding protected patient health information. 

HIPAA laws overlap with medical malpractice rules when it comes to a doctor’s responsibility to maintain a patient’s privacy. To win a medical malpractice case on this basis, the patient’s attorney must make a strong case that the provider’s standard of care includes the requirement to follow HIPAA regulations.

With case law  HIPAA has been deemed a “standard of care” and the failure to maintain a patient’s privacy, a HIPAA violation, might fall under this definition of malpractice.

Contact a Pittsburgh medical malpractice lawyer today to review your case: 800-392-4529

Sources:

• • https://www.cdc.gov/phlp/publications/topic/hipaa.html
  • https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/twc/articles/insights-hipaa-and-medical-malpractice

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