Individualized assessment moderates the impact of HIPAA privacy rules.
In this comment, I express appreciation of Erard's (this issue) review, and urge psychologists to continue to protect test security. I disagree with Erard's belief that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is salient for nonhealth forensic issues. I then review some ways in which individualized assessment practices can moderate the negative impact of the HIPPA privacy rules. Assessors can use tests as a ground forjoint exploration of the client's experience, behavior, and their contexts. Clients may later ask for a review of test data and collaborative life findings, but they rarely are interested in acquiring test records. Attorneys, after discovering that assessment conclusions are based largely on events/contexts provided by the client and others, are less interested in acquiring test records that the psychologist used as tools rather than as evidence for conclusions.
Fischer
Constance T
CT
Department of Psychology, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, USA. fischer@duq.edu
D003219:Confidentiality / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D020408:Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; D006801:Humans; D011584:Psychology / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014481:United States