Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood advised late last month that the health information of victims in emergency situations is public body and should not be protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

The issue arose after local fire and police departments declined to give out information such as the addresses of murder victims and fires to the Hattiesburg American newspaper.

HIPAA was enacted in 1996. Mandatory compliance to the law went into effect in April 2003.

Violating HIPAA can result in civil penalties of $100 per violation and up to $25,000 per year.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan will be looking into the issues surrounding HIPAA before issuing an opinion, spokeswoman Melissa Merz said.

The law, which established safeguards and boundaries on the use and release of health information, has helped patients, said Greg Olson, CEO of Rochelle Community Hospital, 900 N. 2nd St.

“It’s given them more privacy, with respect to health care,” Olson said.

Adjusting to the law has taken additional effort, he said.

“It was a very large undertaking to comply with HIPAA guidelines,” Olson said.

Olson said his hospital started a HIPAA committee several years ago to ensure appropriate policies and procedures under the law.

The law has not been a significant obstacle in working with police and fire departments, but it restricts public ambulance services from releasing names to the public, Olson said.

According to HIPAA privacy practices, ambulance providers are not allowed to disclose protected health information. Information can be disclosed when public health or national security are at risk.

The policy has been phased into the fire department over the past two years, DeKalb Fire Chief Lanny Russell said.

The law has made police work more difficult, DeKalb Police Lt. Jim Kayes said.

“Once again, we can thank the lawyers,” Kayes said.

The problem is health care providers use the law as an excuse not to provide information, he said.

Getting information, such as the status of someone in the emergency room, has been hampered by the HIPAA, Kayes said.

“None of the hospitals want to talk to us anymore,” he said. “You’ve got some of these ambulance calls that don’t even want to give out the address of where they’re going.”