Can health care providers, such as a specialist or hospital, to whom a patient is referred for the first time, use protected health information to set up appointments or schedule surgery or other procedures without the patient's written consent?

Answer:

Yes. The HIPAA Privacy Rule does not require covered entities to obtain an individual’s consent prior to using or disclosing protected health information about him or her for treatment, payment, or health care operations.

 

 

Date Created: 12/19/2002

Content created by Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
Content last reviewed on July 26, 2013