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 Recent Questions How to Ask Faculty & Staff for Gifts? What Happens When A Campaign Is Completed? Why Do So Many Fundraisers Become Consultants? What are the Pro and Cons of Creating a Bonus System? How Much Should You Spend for Campaign Costs? |
Dollars and Sense How Restrictive Is The HIPPA Privacy Regulation? What we are going to describe is a health care issue. Every hospital faces this question. We are asked all the time. I thank Bonnie Gittinger for untangling the puzzle. Bonnie is the very effective and busy consultant in San Antonio, Texas. She is involved in just about every major campaign there is in the city. Here’s the question we are asked regularly: Is it appropriate for a physician to identify patients who are potential donors? Answer: Yes. Just as a physician, for instance, may identify a patient for the country club or Rotary— there is nothing in the HIPPA Rule which prohibits or even discourages physicians from identifying potential donors. In fact, use or disclosure of medical information is explicitly permitted for certain health related marketing under the HIPPA Privacy Rule. Question: Does the HIPPA Privacy Rule impose many new restrictions on a facility’s fundraising efforts so that fundraising becomes almost impossible? Answer: No. According to the Rule, a facility may use, or disclose to its “business associate” or an institutionally related foundation, demographic information and the dates of healthcare provided to an individual “for the purpose of raising funds for its own benefit, without an authorization (from the patient). Any fundraising materials that the hospital sends to an individual must include a description of how the individual may opt out of future fundraising communications. Therefore, the Rule does not hinder fundraising in the first instance, and if the hospital wants to target specific patients, it must include this information in its notice of Privacy Practices. Hospitals must be careful and use all reasonable efforts to ensure that those who decide to opt out of receiving future fundraising communications do not continue to receive them. Here are some points that are important to keep in mind: i) HIPPA does not prohibit fundraising; ii) Physicians can discuss fundraising programs with patients when the physician feels it is appropriate; iii) A patient cannot sue a physician for a HIPPA complaint. The physician is not to disclose the patient’s condition or the illness of the patient. Obviously, if it’s a Cancer Center, it is quite clear why the patient was served. Or a Children’s Hospital. Or Cardiac Center. And on and on.– Jerry Panas |
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