I get HIPAA, but sometimes it sucks. My Grandfather died this morning.

[frazzled]

129. Very sorry for your loss, but I'm confused

about the connection to HIPAA. Did your grandfather (not your grandmother, but your grandfather) make a formal objection to having his health information shared? Because HIPAA permits the sharing of medical information to family unless it is blocked by the patient.• If he was hospitalized three times, you could have known. If the senior home knew enough that they were aware your grandfather needed food, then they should have shared that information with you when you called to inquire about his condition. This doesn't sound like a HIPAA failure, but perhaps I'm confused.

Elderly people, especially when they are near the end of life, do not eat, even when provided with every opportunity. It's part of the death process. I've watched it, and it's hard to take. (My husband and I tried to feed tiny spoonfuls of Ensure to his mother during the last month of her life, and she wouldn't even swallow that.) It saddens me that your anger is directed at your mentally ill grandmother. I'm not quite clear on how someone not in their right mind is being blamed for this incident. Maybe it's just too late for me to read the story correctly.

*From HIPAA:

To make sure that your health information is protected in a way that does not interfere with your health care, your information can be used and shared:
With your family, relatives, friends, or others you identify who are involved with your health care or your health care bills, unless you object

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html