HIPAA Applicable After Death?

Parabeagle

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 12-27-04 AT 02:49PM (CST)[/font][br][br]Posting this here since all I heard were crickets and moths over in the benefits section.

Had an employee pass away yesterday and am thinking of putting her obit in our newsletter. Does anyone know if the privacy provisions of HIPAA apply after the employee's demise, particularly insofar as publishing the cause of death and the brief illness that preceded it?

SMace

If your taking an obit that was in the newspaper for public view, I don't see an issue with putting it in your newsletter. You could always leave out the cause of death and the type of illness if you like.

Don D

How would the cause of death add value to the internal announcement? I don't think there's a HIPAA issue, just one of basic respect of privacy. I would mention only those things that are uplifting or celebratory of the employee's life and contributions to the organization. Anything else only satisfies curiosities. But, if you're going to mention cause of demise, shoe size is of equal importance.

Parabeagle

My feeling is that cause of death satisfies a basic human curiosity (if it didn't, local newspapers wouldn't publish it), and if it's already on the public record, it shouldn't be an issue. It also short-circuits the inevitable dozens of phone calls from her coworkers and others asking how she died.

Don D

Then by all means, publish it. Put it up in neon. I hope it wasn't cancer. Then you'll have the usual group of geniuses who will assume, 'Right, cancer, must have been aids related, uh huh, pneumonia, right, had to be something else, you know, my husband's aunt is a nurse and they say most pneumonia is aids related.' As I said, all it does is satisfy and feed more curiosity.

neveradull

Ok I am dying to know what did she die of? As your employee I need to know because I am sure it was work related. ie. stress,exposure to chemicals, molds, other people etc..

I agree with Don let them read her obit in the newpaper, your newletter can talk nice about her.

Balloonman1

Don,
You seem...cranky..........were you not a good boy this year and not get any Christmas presents?
:-) Relax............. I suppose you don't look over at the car wreck looking for the severed head either.
my $0.02 worth,
DJ The Balloonman

irenesmsaclaims

HIPAA doesn't address the deceased in terms of their PHI, except the provisions dealing with a personal representative. I would err on the side of conservativism and not reveal any details.