--- title: "Clinician's guide: privacy and communication in ICU. | Sutter Health" description: "ICUs should develop policies for handling info sharing and methods for pts to voice objections to info sharing with caregivers." url: "https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/clinician-privacy-communication-icu-1055312509" --- 1. [Home](https://www.sutterhealth.org/) / 2. [Research](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research) / 3. [Research publications](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications) / 4. Clinician's guide: privacy and communication in ICU. # A clinician's guide to privacy and communication in the ICU. Francis L, Vorwaller MA, Aboumatar H, Frosch DL, Halamka J, Rozenblum R, Rubin E, Lee BS, Sugarman J, Turner K, Brown SM; Privacy, Access, & and Engagement Task Force of the Libretto Consortium of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. _Crit Care Med. \[Epub ahead of print\]_ 2016-12-02 ## Abstract OBJECTIVE: To review the legal issues concerning family members' access to information when patients are in the ICU. DATA SOURCES: U.S. Code, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, and state legislative codes. DATA EXTRACTION: Relevant legal statutes and regulations were identified and reviewed by the two attorney authors (L. F., M. A. V.). STUDY SELECTION: Not applicable. DATA SYNTHESIS: Review by all coauthors. CONCLUSIONS: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and related laws should not be viewed as barriers to clinicians sharing information with ICU patients and their loved ones. Generally, under Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, personal representatives have the same authority to receive information that patients would otherwise have. Persons involved in the patient's care also may be given information relevant to the episode of care unless the patient objects. ICUs should develop policies for handling the issues we identify about such information sharing, including policies for responding to telephone inquiries and methods for giving patients the opportunity to object to sharing information with individuals involved in their care. ICU clinicians also should be knowledgeable of their state's laws about how to identify patients' personal representatives and the authority of those representatives. Finally, ICU clinicians should be aware of any special restrictions their state places on medical information. In aggregate, these strategies should help ICU managers and clinicians facilitate robust communication with patients and their loved ones. [PubMed abstract](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27922454) ## Research topics - [Health Policy](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research-search-results?query=%22%5C%22Health+Policy%5C%22%22) - [Health Services](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research-search-results?query=%22%5C%22Health+Services%5C%22%22) - [Medical Informatics](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research-search-results?query=%22%5C%22Medical+Informatics%5C%22%22) ## Related publications [View all publications](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research-search-results?verticalKey=research_publication) - Publication ### [When does adoption of health information technology by physician practices lead to use by physicians within the practice?](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/adoption-and-use-of-health-it-by-physicians-1055312889) McClellan SR, Casalino LP, Shortell SM, Rittenhouse DR. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 20(e1):e26-32. doi: 10.1136/amiajnl-2012-001271. 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Health Aff (Millwood). 34(1):11-20. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2014.0483. 2015 Jan 01 [View all publications](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research-search-results?verticalKey=research_publication) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"MedicalOrganization","name":"Sutter Health","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/#medicalorganization","url":"https://www.sutterhealth.org","logo":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/static/images/sutter-health-logo.svg","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"2200 River Plaza Drive","addressLocality":"Sacramento","addressRegion":"CA","postalCode":"95833","addressCountry":"US"},"areaServed":{"@type":"AdministrativeArea","name":"California"},"sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/SutterHealth","https://www.instagram.com/sutterhealth/","https://x.com/SutterHealth","https://www.youtube.com/sutterhealth","https://www.linkedin.com/company/sutter-health","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutter_Health"]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/clinician-privacy-communication-icu-1055312509#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Research","item":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/research"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Research publications","item":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Clinician's guide: privacy and communication in ICU."}]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"MedicalScholarlyArticle","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/clinician-privacy-communication-icu-1055312509#medicalscholarlyarticle","name":"A clinician's guide to privacy and communication in the ICU.","headline":"Clinician's guide: privacy and communication in ICU.","abstract":"OBJECTIVE: To review the legal issues concerning family members' access to information when patients are in the ICU. DATA SOURCES: U.S. Code, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, and state legislative codes. DATA EXTRACTION: Relevant legal statutes and regulations were identified and reviewed by the two attorney authors (L. F., M. A. V.). STUDY SELECTION: Not applicable. DATA SYNTHESIS: Review by all coauthors. CONCLUSIONS: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and related laws should not be viewed as barriers to clinicians sharing information with ICU patients and their loved ones. Generally, under Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, personal representatives have the same authority to receive information that patients would otherwise have. Persons involved in the patient's care also may be given information relevant to the episode of care unless the patient objects. ICUs should develop policies for handling the issues we identify about such information sharing, including policies for responding to telephone inquiries and methods for giving patients the opportunity to object to sharing information with individuals involved in their care. ICU clinicians also should be knowledgeable of their state's laws about how to identify patients' personal representatives and the authority of those representatives. Finally, ICU clinicians should be aware of any special restrictions their state places on medical information. 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