Consider HIPAA for Incidental Findings, Stanford Counsel Says

Academic medical centers need to address study subjects’ rights to access data on incidental findings that come up during research, a senior counsel for Stanford University said March 15.

“This whole area of incidental findings which has been in the literature for many years hasn’t really caught up to the whole HIPAA access rights issue,” said Susan Stayn, the senior university counsel for both Stanford University and its affiliated medical center. She was referring to the privacy rule under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (45 C.F.R. §164.524), which gives individuals the right to access their health information.

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