HOSPITAL ADMISSION PROTOCOL

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), originally intended as a safeguard about the release of patient information to insurance companies, has grown into a nightmarish monster extending into areas of patient information never intended to be affected by the original act. One consequence is that the routine notification to a parish about a parishioner's admission to a hospital or other health care facility now cannot happen unless the patient specifically requests that notification be made. When you are admitted to a hospital please be sure to put St. John's Church on the notification list.