Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="JoeSU, post: 196510, member: 309"] It appears to be a complex situation that falls under the aegis of both FERPA and HIPPA. You're right that strict enforcement seems to be a fairly recent phenomena that is not evenly applied at every school. Given the intent and spirit of the law, I don't see any reason why it should make a difference if the injury took place during the season or not, or as I previously stated, whether it involves a student-athlete or not. According to [URL='http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/impact-hipaa-privacy-rule-collegiate-sport-professionals']thesportsjournal.org [/URL](with my emphasis added): [I]HIPAA and the Athlete[/I] [I]Within sport, it has been standard practice for information about players’ injuries to be communicated to a wide range of individuals, from physicians and athletic trainers to coaches, school administrators, and even the media. The biggest concern for many sport organizations has been how the privacy act will affect these procedures. ... Another major concern for both types of teams is what, if any, information can be provided to the media (Elmore, 2002), as it disseminates information rapidly and readily to the populace as a whole...[/I] [I][/I] [I]Depending upon the status of a team physician for college teams, there are different stipulations about what information can be shared. Some team physicians conduct part of their practice through the student health center. In this case, the physician falls under the guidelines of FERPA and should be allowed to share information with coaches and athletic trainers. A physician not employed by a university-run health center will be subject to the HIPAA guidelines. In this case it is possible that, in order for any information to be released to athletic trainers, an authorization form would need to be signed. An exception to HIPAA exists that specifically states that information can be released to another provider for treatment purposes. What is unclear, however, is whether or not a trainer is considered a provider under HIPAA guidelines (Hill, 2003). [/I] [I][B]For coaches and other school administrators, an authorization would need to be provided before this information could be shared.[/B] Another concern is on-field evaluations information. Can this be shared with the necessary parties? The answer, it seems, is that these evaluations would fall under the category of emergency evaluations, for which prior authorization is unnecessary.[/I] [I][/I] [B][I]Finally, regarding the sharing of information with the media, this issue is clear-cut. Under HIPAA, personal health information can be provided to sports information staff or the media only with authorization from the athlete (Magee et al., 2003).[/I][/B] [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?