What is the HIPAA Authorization Waiver?
HIPAA Authorization Waiver: A legal instrument allowing the use or disclosure of personal health information to other parties. The 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) outlines patient privacy protections, including this waiver.
Breaking Down
The HIPAA authorization waiver lets clinicians share patient health information with researchers, attorneys, other doctors, and family members. Healthcare privacy has become more critical in the digital era, as clinicians may quickly transfer patient health information online instead of mailing or faxing data.
HIPAA-covered entities, such as health insurers, healthcare providers, and healthcare clearinghouses, hold protected health information (PHI) regarding patients.HIPAA identifies 18 indicators that produce PHI when connected to health information. Researchers can utilize PHI with HIPAA clearance.
PHI-using studies include:
- Studies that evaluate existing health records, such as retrospective chart reviews or other studies that abstract data for study,
- Research that creates fresh medical information while providing healthcare. Most studies that diagnose a health issue or test novel medications or technologies produce PHI for the medical record.
There are additional rules and criteria to safeguard individuals’ privacy against re-identification. You cannot derive codes to substitute IDs in datasets based on individual or master codes, nor can you divulge the process.
Authorizing a HIPAA Waiver
Researchers must ensure that a HIPAA waiver for research meets three criteria: the disclosing party’s privacy must face minimal risk from the health information to be disclosed; researchers must have the necessary information for conducting research activities; and they must obtain a waiver for conducting the research.
In a medical emergency, if a family member uses an attorney to circumvent HIPAA rules, the patient must have informed their power of attorney that they waive HIPAA protections and allow their designated “personal representative” access to their private health information.
