How HIPAA Protects your Mental Health Diagnoses and other Medical Information
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A recent study shows that autism diagnoses in the U.S. are at a all time high, and the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has sparked controversies with his recent comments and increased efforts to study autism.
Plans of a national disease registry for people with autism and other mental health diagnoses was discussed by the National Institutes of Health, in which medical records would be obtained to track and study autism. An official at the HHS later though walked back those comments, saying that they were not creating an autism registry.
Kathleen Stengel, founder and CEO of Neurabilities joined your News Channel to discusses patient confidentiality and how the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, protects a person's medical information.
Nearly 30 years ago, HIPAA was signed into law, and later the HIPAA Privacy Rule was created giving individuals rights over their own protected health information.
"Allowed us to have privacy rights for our personal, private health information and that includes the diagnosis of autism or other mental health disorders, so it protects us by allowing us to control access to our personal health information. And it's the federal law," Stengel says.
Stengal says early diagnosis is key for anyone questioning if they, or someone they know has autism.
"The key is to get the diagnosis early and understand what your patient rights are. Actually that's for everyone, including those who don't have a diagnosis of autism or a mental health," Stengal says.
Paying attention to what you're signing at the doctor's office and who has access to your medical information gives you control over your personal rights and medical autonomy.
