Does this Sound Odd to You?

[Rhondazvous]

A friend of mine, Michelle, has a cousin, Effie, who is 81 years old and lives across the road from me. Today Michelle told me Effie is in the hospital but she’s not sure which hospital. She said when she called they told her they could not tell her anything, not even whether Effie was there or not. Michelle thinks Effie’s granddaughter took her to the hospital but she doesn’t have the granddaughter’s phone number. This happened two days ago on Wednesday and the granddaughter has not called anybody to tell them what’s going on. Michelle found out Effie was in the hospital from a neighbor who lives across the way from Effie.

I never heard of hospitals not being able to tell people if a patient is even there or not. Have you?

[Chad32]

I know there are laws about who is allowed to visit a patient or not. There's also the doctor-patient confidentiality stuff. So I guess it's not surprising that they don't give out information to just anyone who calls either.

[Athene]

Yes.

When hospital employees aren't certain whether a disclosure is in violation of HIPAA  laws or not, they'll often play it safe rather than sorry. Otherwise, they might actually have to ask a question, or bother to find something out. 

Your friend's inquiry as to whether or not her cousin had been admitted, should have been answered. 

http://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professiona...index.html

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Pretty much how it is here as well. If you can't prove you're a family member (which is bloody hard to do over the phone), hospitals and private clinics aren't allowed to provide you with information about patients. The reasoning behind this is actually pretty sound - they don't want patients bothered by ambulance chasers and other assorted scum.

Boru