Reference no: EM133561294

Assignment:

Pictures of smiling babies crowd a bulletin board in a doctor's office in Midtown Manhattan, in a collage familiar to anyone who has given birth. But the women coming in to have babies of their own cannot see them. They have been moved to a private part of the office, replaced in the corridors with abstract art.

"I've had patients ask me, 'Where's your baby board?' " said Dr. Mark V. Sauer, the director of the office, which is affiliated with Columbia University Medical Center. "We just tell them the truth, which is that we no longer post them because of concerns over privacy."

For generations, obstetricians and midwives across America have proudly posted photographs of the babies they have delivered on their office walls. But this pre-digital form of social media is gradually going the way of cigars in the waiting room, because of the federal patient privacy law known as HIPAA.

Are these photos protected health information under HIPAA? Do you think these pictures should be protected health information? Can they be considered "treatment, payment or health-care operations" that can be used and disclosed without explicit consent? If they are "protected health information" and do not qualify as "treatment, payment or health-care operations" and cannot be posted without explicit authorization - has HIPAA gone too far?

In your answer please consult the regulatory provisions we have studied through this unit.