Any individual undergoing substance misuse treatment has a right to privacy and confidentiality. This can be especially vital for people in the public eye who are well-known and under considerable scrutiny from the press and their fans. The fact of the matter is celebrities deserve the same privacy as everyone else regarding their medical and mental health care. This includes treatment of addiction, which is still stigmatized in society despite efforts to educate the public that it is a chronic, relapsing disease not dissimilar to health conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure. (1)
NAQI Health is dedicated to providing effective, evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders while ensuring that all individuals’ right to privacy is protected. Contact us today to learn more about our comprehensive programs and begin your journey to a healthy, drug- and alcohol-free life.
The Importance of Privacy for Celebrities Seeking Treatment
For individuals undergoing addiction treatment, privacy is paramount. Privacy in recovery allows people to feel comfortable seeking the help they need, free from the opinions of others. Substance use disorders affect all types of people, including celebrities. For celebrities and others constantly in the public eye, privacy during recovery is essential for many reasons, including the following:
- Protecting Personal Information—Everyone has a legal right to have their personal and medical information protected, celebrities included.
- Avoiding Public Intrusion—Professional treatment is difficult for anyone, both emotionally and physically. This difficulty is only magnified if a celebrity is forced to evade paparazzi and overeager fans instead of focusing on their recovery.
- Protecting Reputation—Negative press coverage regarding substance misuse and addiction can tarnish a celebrity’s reputation. In turn, this can cause that person undue stress and anxiety, which can ultimately complicate their recovery or derail it altogether.
- Maintaining Career—For most celebrities, their ability to find work and sustain their careers depends directly on their public image. As such, on top of straining their recovery, negative press coverage regarding addiction issues can directly harm their career prospects following treatment.
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HIPAA, Medical Records, & Privacy Laws
Information regarding a person’s addiction treatment is considered a medical record and is protected under federal law by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 2 Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records (42 CFR Part 2). (2)(3) These two laws set the regulations and standards regarding the confidentiality of a person’s medical information.
HIPAA sets the Privacy Rule, which addresses the use and disclosure of a person’s protected health information (PHI). More specifically, HIPAA makes it illegal for “Covered Entities” to divulge an individual’s PHI without their written consent. Covered Entities include healthcare providers—specifically regarding claims, benefit eligibility inquiries, and referral authorization requests—and health plans, including the following: (4)
- Health, dental, vision, and prescription drug insurers.
- Health maintenance organizations (HMOs).
- Medicare, Medicaid, Medicare+Choice, and Medicare supplement insurers.
- Long-term care insurers (excluding nursing home fixed-indemnity policies).
- Employer-sponsored group health plans.
- Government- and church-sponsored health plans.
- Multi-employer health plans.
Along with the HIPAA Privacy Rule, the Security Rule specifically protects e-PHI, or any PHI a Covered Entity “creates, receives, maintains, or transmits in electronic form.” (5)
Additionally, 42 CFR Part 2 Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records regulation makes it illegal to disclose any patient information that describes or diagnoses a person as having a substance use disorder without that person’s written consent. Moreover, it provides definitions, safeguards, and legal procedures to follow in pursuit of the regulations it outlines.
The general purpose of these laws is to protect an individual’s privacy with regard to the disclosure of their medical and substance misuse treatment information. Likewise, they aim to reduce the stigma associated with individuals who undergo treatment for substance use disorder and curtail any discrimination or adverse consequences such a stigma could cause.
Are Medical Records Always Protected?
There are certain circumstances—e.g., during emergencies—under which privacy protections given by these laws do not apply. However, these exceptions, or disclosures without patient consent, are carefully defined and controlled by the CFR and intended to provide as many privacy safeguards as possible. (6)
Reasons People Want To Keep Rehab Confidential
Individuals undergoing treatment for a substance use disorder have many valid reasons why they would wish to keep their medical information confidential, including the following:
- Guarding Privacy—For many individuals, addiction recovery is a deeply personal and profound experience. Those in recovery may simply not want anyone else’s opinions or involvement in their recovery. As such, they may wish to keep their recovery journey a secret hidden from coworkers, friends, extended family, or even immediate family.
- Protecting Relationships—Unfortunately, the stigmas associated with addiction can also harm a person’s close personal relationships. To protect these relationships from harm, individuals in recovery may therefore wish to conceal their treatment from those close to them.
- Avoiding Career Consequences—Some individuals may actually suffer professional consequences if their employer, colleagues, or coworkers learn of their struggles with substance use. Accordingly, many in recovery rely heavily on privacy laws and the discretion of healthcare professionals treating them.
- Avoiding Judgment—Substance use disorders and addiction are, unfortunately, still subject to a great deal of stigma within our society. For this reason, individuals undergoing treatment may understandably wish to avoid judgment from their peers, the public, or even their loved ones. Stigma can lead to shame and guilt for people with addiction, which may prevent them from seeking the help they need. It can also make it challenging for individuals with addiction to reintegrate into society after they have received treatment.
Fortunately, there has been some progress in decreasing the stigma surrounding addiction in recent years. More people are beginning to understand that addiction is a brain disease and that those with substance use disorders need treatment and support rather than judgment and punishment.
How Do We Handle Paperwork and Confidentiality?
NAQI Healthcare strives to keep all paperwork regarding our clients’ care as private and confidential as possible. To do this, we have implemented several regulatory practices, including:
- Obtaining informed written consent from patients in accordance with state and federal law regarding the disclosure of their medical information.
- Limiting patient record access to authorized entities that need to know, such as other healthcare providers and billing staff.
- Storing all patient information in secure locations accessible only to authorized staff.
- Requiring all staff to sign confidentiality agreements that acknowledge their legal duty to keep patient information private.
Contact Us Today to Learn More
No person seeking medical or mental health treatment should have to worry about their privacy, confidentiality, or whether the public can access their information. Fortunately, HIPAA laws and other regulations are in place to safeguard against privacy breaches. Privacy violations can be especially detrimental in cases where famous people have their personal information exposed, exploited by the press, and critiqued by the public.
Reach out to NAQI Healthcare today to learn more about our streamlined admissions process and full continuum of care. We offer a variety of therapeutic programs, including medical detox, inpatient/outpatient treatment, aftercare planning, and more. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation health insurance benefits check to get started on the road to recovery.
Sources
(1)https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/stigma-of-addiction/
(2)https://www.cdc.gov/phlp/publications/topic/hipaa.html
(3)https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-2
(5)https://www.cdc.gov/phlp/publications/topic/hipaa.html
(6)https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-2#subpart-D
