A short reprieve from worrying about passing out patient privacy waivers or gaining a patient’s consent before talking to relatives will help hospitals brace for a coronavirus deluge, but more flexibility might be needed.
A 72 hour waiver from some Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act requirements means hospitals that declare a disaster won’t be penalized for certain infractions of the patient privacy law once those emergency procedures are in effect. However, not all health-care providers will enjoy that exemption and it may not be a long enough window to deal with the pandemic.
“The patient surges may come and ...