Can a medical POA share info about the person they served after they have been removed?

Like ReadytoGo, I'm curious. Technically, unless a person has POA for health care he or she is not entitled to information on medical records of another person.

However, if this is a family situation, some information is generally shared just to keep loved ones in touch. However, since the person was removed from the MPOA, it seems that there may be a breach of trust here, which means that the person shouldn't be involved at all and certainly shouldn't be sharing information.

Within families there is common sense (generally) about how much to share and the POA is often just for legal purposes. In this case, it may be different in which case a it's possible that a law is being broken.

My feeling is that if the person who assigned the POA and then withdrew it feels exposed, this is wrong.

Good luck. You seem to be a concerned person.
Carol

A quick check of the medical privacy rules (HIPPA) shows that the rules only apply to "covered entities", which includes health plans and health care providers who electronically transmit health information. It also includes companies involved in claims processing and billing. The only time a POA is mentioned is in the section explaining who may receive protected information. POAs may receive protected information from covered entities just as parents can receive protected information for minor children. I don't see anything in the law that would restrict the POA from disclosing information to others. I suppose that there could be other privacy laws that would apply to this situation, but you would probably need to contact an attorney.

Send that person a "cease and desist" letter. Your attorney can handle this.

If a person has been removed as MPOA, then they can no longer discuss ANY information about a patient that they served. Since I don't know who you are, I have no idea how this pertains to you, but in any event, that is the answer to the question. Legal action can be made against the deposed MPOA.

Technically, the above answers are correct. Just curious, though. Is the previous POA a family member? Are you a family member? What exactly are they sharing, and with whom? Are they telling random strangers or coworkers names, diagnoses, and embarrassing info? Or, are they discussing mum's situation with family members who refused to help out previously? Why are you so concerned? You haven't given much info here. Is it possible you have a grievance with this person and are looking for a way to cause them grief? Just curious.

This brings up a good question. Is a person who has been or is currently DPOA ( health care power of attorney) bound by HIPPA laws?

....shall we deal with the issue of MPOA, DPOA, POA of one who has solvent dementia, and several other mental ailments, rendering them not able to have good judgment...???
There is so much more to the piece of the pie!

Part of the disease process, at least with Alzheimer/dementia, is that the caretaker becomes ,"THE ENEMY."

A private person can share and release whatever they happen to find out. They can also provide any information TO the health care providers. They are not legally entitled to receive information FROM the providers without the person being there and/or specifically approving it. And if they are making stuff up and spreading it around, other people need to take them with a grain of salt; if it is bad and harmful enough, yes, they at least deserve a legal warning that it could be considered libel or slander.

This person was removed for a reason, and it would seem that reason continues. The current POA should take steps to notify the health care providers that the situation has changed and communication should be appropriately limited.

thanks akdaughter for looking into that. So under those rules and laws a person cannot be sued for disclosing information however other laws such as slander may come into play, however that is so very hard to prove because malicious intent has to be shown. It would be nice if the original poster gave us more information to go on as to why they are upset by this situation and how they fit in the the arrangement. I am sure all of us have spoken to friends or family at one point or another about our loved one, not to harm them but because we need someone to share our pain. Without more input from poster I don't know where to lead this conversation. I would add though that a private caregiver or one who works for an agency needs to be very careful to maintain confidentiality when it comes to their clients and could get into trouble if they do not. And I am not sure what moondance was even referring to in their post. Maybe they could clarify?

Hippa covers doctors, healthcare providers, hospitals, ect. Not sure if a DPOA comes under that law. I share moms info with my brothers.