A US law that provides data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding medical information of patients, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), has been cited by health care providers as a problem in recording accurate data for patients with mental health issues involving substance abuse.
Dr. Monita Adip of the Acute Mental Health of LBJ Hospital says she has discovered that due to HIPAA, the numbers being collected on mental cases related to drug abuse may not be accurate.
She was one of the speakers at the American Samoa Behavioral Health Summit held yesterday at the LDS Stake Center in Malaeimi.
Noting that drug abuse is a prevalent problem in American Samoa, Dr. Adip believes many cases are not being recorded nor transferred to the mental health unit because of the HIPAA law.
Play Audio
Dr. Adip makes the point that in order to be able to address drug abuse there needs to be an accurate count of such cases.
She said that in most cases, health authorities cannot assess the status of mental patients and make referrals to the appropriate service provider that can help them because of the HIPAA law.
