Caveats: NONE
For a number of reason (including the fact that you probably don't bill
for medical services) I don't believe there are any HIPAA constraints in
this case. Most schools follow the AAP recommendations (which I think
have already been referenced) which have school wide notification and
education as part of the standard of care. =20
As long as you do not individually identify the student you will not
violate HIPAA or any other state or federal regulation I am aware of.
You should include the minimum amount of information concerning the
student. Providing their grade is probably fine but you should
definitely avoid gender and other information that is unnecessary for
prevention and could lead to identification. This would also be true of
cases like meningitis where community notification is an important part
of the standard of care. =20
If you want to proceed with an abundance of caution, you can always have
the parents of the effected student authorize disclosure, but I believe
that is unnecessary if you are not identifying the student. As always, I
am not a HIPAA expert, but I have been to a heck of a lot of training
for it.
_J
___________________________________
Jason Johnson - Program Director
Web Services Branch - Walter Reed Army Medical Center Ingenium (ISO
9001:2000 certified)
Office: 202-782-1047
Cell: 202-262-0516
jason.johnson@ingenium.net
jason.p.johnson2@us.army.mil=20
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators
[mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Groesbeck, Sue
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 5:46 PM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: communication and lice
I have a "friend" who runs a school and "he" wants to know what you do
about lice in your school. (I don't want to admit we might have lice
ever!)
One of the concerns is that a family generally tries to hide the fact
that they have lice. The school nurse is wonderful and is diligent and
steadfast. However, when she occasionally finds a lice case, she
doesn't advertise it around - under the HIPPA constraints. Might there
be a way to stop the spread if we had a way to let parents know whom to
avoid? I know that sounds harsh. =20
What have you done, policy-wise or with a simple communication tool, to
let parents know when there might be a case or an outbreak - without
breaking confidentiality concerns?=20
Thank you,=20
Sue Groesbeck
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