Is there medical confidentiality within the family?

HIPAA governs only healthcare providers. It has very strict rules about what can be shared by a provider and when. It does not govern private individuals. (I am HIPAA trained for work.)

Within what family? Not within parts of mine, unfortunately.

I hate family sharing medical information about me with other family members.

There were way too many secrets in my mom’s generation. My family keeps each other in the loop about everything, especially medical issues.

@YARNLADY there’s no formal arrangement like with a provider, so it’s whatever works within your family. If nobody complained, then I guess you’re good.

I try not to tell people in my family about the diagnoses and medical issues of others. I let them choose to tell or not to tell. There are people in my family who withhold from certain ones because those people will tell others, and I never want to be the one who let the cat out of the bag, so I wait to see what they reveal in a group setting or group chat, and I take it from there.

There is within my family, but we tend to be fairly open about such things, so not much stays hidden. But if, say, I told my brother about a medical issue and asked him to keep it between us, he would. But my parents don’t hide anything from me or my siblings—sometimes I wish they would. I don’t want to know all that. xD

As a matter of law, no.

Like @Hawaii_Jake already pointed out, HIPAA only applies to healthcare providers.

But I’d say there is still a general unspoken expectation to respect people’s medical privacy, whether it’s family or friends.

No you are good sharing like that. It is Providers that are governed by confidentiality regulations.

My assumption was that the OP wasn’t referring to a legal liability but more about etiquette.

My parents kept us in the dark about my father’s health until almost the very end. I did not learn of my father’s kidney problems or his asbestosis until he a needed ride to the Nephrologist and his primary doctor one day. My mother and I were invited into the examination room with him when the doctor told him she was having an ambulance transport my father to the hospital to be put in the ICU.

My siblings and I later asked my mom why we were not kept informed of my dad’s issues. She daid they didn’t want to worry us. We told her it means we couldn’t be there to help them until it was too late.

Families are as sick as their secrets.

Chu chu chu Mrs. Robinson..

^^^^^^

It’s Coo, coo, ca-choo, Mrs. Robinson,. after Goo goo g’joob sung by the Beatles in I am the Walrus

^^^^Fine!

We share everything in my family, but my husbands family does not.
That being said, if a family member declines treatment or discussing the issue, we comply.
My grandfather livedca great life, vet, and chose no treatment at 83 for cancer and moved in with his girlfriend.
It wasnt easy for us to not help take care of him or be included in decisions, but we respected his choices.

I wouldn’t tell without permission, but the law for medical confidentiality applies to medical professionals and anyone who works with those professionals or in the medical institution caring for that patient.

When I worked in a medical facility we weren’t even supposed to acknowledge a patient if we ran into them on the street unless they acknowledged us first.