HIPAA and Talking with Family Caregivers

In Brief The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (PL 104–191), known as HIPAA, has confused and unnecessarily alarmed many conscientious health care providers. Nurses in particular are likely to be on the front line of family caregivers' inquiries, because physicians are often difficult to reach and because family caregivers look to nurses as sources of reliable information. A major retraining of health care providers at all levels is needed to dampen the “HIPAA scare” and clarify what HIPAA does and does not say about communication with family caregivers. Does HIPAA really prevent a nurse from giving a worried family member any information about her loved one? What the law really says.