Privacy Wiki

Use and Disclosure. Use and disclosure of health information shall only be to the extent of consent given by the patient and for the following purposes:
a.) For planning of quality services;
b.) Requirement for reporting for communicable, infectious and other notifiable diseases as well as those with serious health and safety threat to the public such as, but not limited to:
1.) Meningitis
2.) Food poisoning (mass)
3.) Breakthrough epidemic of contagious disease
4.) Biological or chemical warfare
5.) Emerging and re-emerging diseases
c.) Continuing care to patients;
d.) Reporting of physical injury;
e.) Reporting of interpersonal violence to proper authorities;
f.) Reporting of diseases as registered in the Philippine Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response;
g.) Mandatory reporting required by licensing and accreditation bodies (Department of Health, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development).

Deceased Individuals. Disclosure of health information of a deceased individual shall be to the authorized legal representative.

For medico-legal cases. For medico-legal cases, information may be disclosed to the authorized personnel in-charge upon authorization from the patient or authorized representative (in case when the patient is deceased).

Legal Authorities and/or Government Agencies. Before a disclosure is made to any other government agency, there must be a court order. It is only in cases of emergency where disclosure can be done without court order. This would be situations where time is of the essence such as:
1.) For PNP Subpoena, consent is not required from next of kin.
2.) For medical or financial assistance requiring abstracts or similar documents, authorization of patient is required.
3.) For DOH programs and other government agencies providing financial public assistance, the said agency shall only disclose de-identified information.

Without a court order, release of information shall be pursuant to hospital policy otherwise, patient records shall not be released or disclosed.

When personal health information is released to legal authority, a cover letter shall be sent containing information reminding the recipient that the information contained is personal health information and must be handled in a confidential manner. A receiving copy shall be maintained by the health care provider for record purposes.

Privilege Communication. Both patient and physician must provide consent for the use and disclosure of patient information for purposes, otherwise, information shall not be released.

Training Hospitals and Academic or Clinical Requirement Purposes. Guidelines for retrieval of information for purposes of Professional Regulation Commission requirements shall be made by participating health care providers. A non-disclosure clause shall be included in the contract of schools with affiliations to a PHCP. Personnel and/or students accessing data for academic or clinical requirement purposes shall also sign a non-disclosure agreement.

• Patient orientation regarding data privacy disclosure shall be done.

References:

• Herold R., Beaver K. (2015). The Practical Guide to HIPAA Privacy and Security Compliance. 2nd edition. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

• Consolidated Workshop Outputs