Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see flaws in this logic
Publisher’s Perspective
On Monday, Hamilton County officials issued a statement saying city-by-city COVID-19 data would not be released to the public.
Hamilton County Health Officer Dr. Charles Harris said in the statement, “We understand the public’s desire to know how our cities and towns are faring in the war against this virus, but we must adhere to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). If we don’t, we could incur hefty fines for each and every infraction.”
Harris said, “Imagine for example, if we were to announce a COVID-19 related death in Arcadia and that was followed by an obituary in Arcadia the following day. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who had been infected.”
If you buy into Harris’ line of thinking, are we to assume each year when the Health Department provides specific information on West Nile virus that anyone nearby with an obituary in the next day’s paper died of West Nile?
Every year Hamilton County Coroner John Chalfin tracks the number of overdose deaths in Hamilton County. Chalfin breaks the deaths down by city/town in which the overdose occurred. He makes those results available to the public.
Harris says he has a county-wide heat-map that is shared daily with emergency personnel.
Why can the county report West Nile virus hotspots but not coronavirus?
Why can the coroner report city-by-city data on fatal drug overdoses, but the county cites HIPAA in COVID-19 cases?
The Carmel Police Department announced two of its officers tested positive for COVID-19.
Mayor Chris Jensen announced a Noblesville fireman tested positive for COVID-19.
The Indiana State Police released information indicating three of the agency’s employees have COVID-19.
IU Health released data indicating the number of COVID-19 tests completed at its facilities and the number of confirmed cases resulting from those tests.
Additionally, IU announced the number of employees that have tested positive.
IU Health is one of the largest healthcare providers in the state. I’m sure they have a team of legal advisors reviewing information being made available to the public, yet Hamilton County won’t say how Jackson Township is being impacted.
The statement issued by the county on Monday quoted Harris: “The people who need to know this information, know this information.”
I’m no “rocket scientist,” but to me it seems the county’s position is that the public doesn’t need to know.
Harris said, “Please trust that those working the front lines of this battle are aware of the hotspots and are doing their very best to mitigate the risk to each and every citizen.”
I agree, we should trust those on the front line; however, transparency goes a long way in earning that trust.
Is it HIPAA or does the county not want you to know? You decide.
i have been talking about the lack of perspective and context of the information being disseminated for weeks. I agree that HIPAA is being used as an excuse. It’s like being told that people are being stung by wasps and to be careful but not telling us where the nest is.
Doesn’t make any sense at all. It’s only now that we are beginning to receive more granular info on which underlying health issues put individuals at risk and what the demographics are starting to look like. I think it would be helpful to know where CV-19 patients suspected they caught the virus so we can decide whether we want to avoid those locations… Is it unfair for me to wonder if my trip to the Gas Station is going to kill me?
Well said. If they are not disclosing PHI or PII, the rest is conjecture. Hiding behind HIPPA for lazy or nefarious reasons has the logic of people saying they can’t answer an email as quickly because they are working from home due to the corona virus.
i think they should tell us in what city are the infected person without releasing their names , that way we may know if we where exposed to the virus ,