Students Health Records Shared With Parents
| Students Health Records Shared With Parents | |
|---|---|
| Short Title | Camous Health Facilities Share Students Health Records With Their Parents |
| Location | United States |
| Date | October 2015 |
| Solove Harm | Identification, Secondary Use, Decisional Interference, Breach of Confidentiality |
| Information | Identifying, Medical and Health |
| Threat Actors | University/college health facilities |
| Individuals | |
| Affected | Students who seek medical help on campus |
| High Risk Groups | Students |
| Tangible Harms | Inconvenience, Ostracism, Loss of Trust, Embarrassment, Anxiety |
Students health records may be shared with their parents by campus health facilities, even without a patient's consent.
Description
Andrea, a Yale student was treated at the campus health center for depression and anxiety. She had to be hospitalized and the university’s mental-health center decided to notify her parents — even though records show her health providers knew she had a broken relationship with them. Breach of Confidentiality
Had Andrea not been a student, the clinicians treating her would have sought her permission before sharing information on her condition or medical care. Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, the landmark federal law is known as HIPAA, patients can limit who has access to such information. Andrea’s records at Yale were subject not to HIPAA; they fell under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, known as FERPA, the federal law that provides privacy protections for student records. Under FERPA, the fact that Andrea was no longer a minor did not matter. FERPA allowed the university to share information with her parents. Both laws allow providers to share information in an emergency, but even then, HIPAA tells them to seek permission from patients first.
Yale website states that parents cannot access students' medical information without the patient's consent. Andrea said she never signed such a document and when she asked to see a form she was told by the counseling center’s chief that there was none. This is an example of Decisional Interference into a student's life.
Laws and Regulations
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
Sources
https://www.propublica.org/article/when-students-become-patients-privacy-suffers