What if a reporter calls with information that is already part of the public record, such as name or condition of the patient obtained from police reports?
Members of the media often obtain police reports and other information about hospital patients. The assumption is frequently made that once information about a patient is in the public domain, the media are entitled to any and all information about that individual. This is not accurate. Health care providers are required to observe the general prohibitions against releasing patient information found in the HIPAA privacy standards, state statutes or regulations and the common law, regardless of what information is in the hands of public agencies or the public in general.
