Patient Privacy Rights

Protecting Americans from health data harms

Know Your Rights Summit | Videos Research | Tech Policy | Advocacy About Donate

 

Get Patient Privacy Updates    |     Report an Incident     |     Contact

Will I be able to find out whether a friend or relative is in the hospital?

Yes.

Hospitals can give out basic information - generally a one-word description of the person's condition, sometimes a room number - to callers asking about a patient by name.

However, the hospital must give the individual an opportunity to object to certain “directory “information being given out.