Any Update on Liam’s Ankle

[husky429]

So if Hurley provides a brief update on McNeeley's ankle at tomorrow's media availability does that mean that McNeeley signed a waiver allowing UConn to release that medical information? Just curious how this works because Hurley is always releasing medical information on players. Or do all players sign a general overall waiver when they commit to a school or before each season?

It's really as simple as the trainer asking the kid "can I talk to coach about this?" At least when I was in college (D2), I don't recall ever signing a waiver about it when we had injuries. Might be mistaken though; I've been hit in the head more than I care to admit.

 

[GHSWolverines]

Hurley has to report updates to fanduel first. LOL

 

[JustbrewitMan]

It's bizarre that this is a part of your profession and you don't understand Hurley can say any single detail he knows without any HIPAA violation. HIPAA doesn't limit the release of certain information; it limits the release of certain information by certain people. It only applies to the medical staff.

Liam could tell Hurley his blood type, his history of irritable bowel syndrome, and how often he has an existential crisis and vomits. It is all fair game for a coach to tell the entire world if he feels like it because he isn't a medical professional. Even if the team trainer gives Hurley protected information illegally, it still isn't a problem for Hurley to tell anyone he wants. Only the trainer would be able to be reported.

Only FERPA would apply to Hurley.

Actually, HIPAA does apply to the release of the patient's information. None of Liam's healthcare providers can divulge any PHI (protected health information)--in this case, about his MRI--to anyone but Liam (since he's over 18) unless he has explicitly signed the necessary HIPAA release forms. Now, if he's signed some blanked waiver about sports-related medical information release already, then yeah Hurley & staff may already know the results. And, they could divulge the information to anyone they want without any fear for committing a HIPAA violation.

Edit: I just did a little checking, and of course with anything that has to do with Federal regs, things get clear as mud. This was a summary I found that sheds dome light on the situations that occur:

The Impact of the HIPAA Privacy Rule on Collegiate Sport Professionals

Submitted by: Richard Bell, Mesa State College, United States Sports Academy National Faculty, Sarah Elizabeth Ratzlaff, Disney Sports, Steven Ross Murray, Mesa State College Abstract The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted on August 21, 1996. Its fundamental...

thesportjournal.org

This section was most relevant:
"Depending upon the status of a team physician for college teams, there are different stipulations about what information can be shared. Some team physicians conduct part of their practice through the student health center. In this case, the physician falls under the guidelines of FERPA and should be allowed to share information with coaches and athletic trainers. A physician not employed by a university-run health center will be subject to the HIPAA guidelines. In this case it is possible that, in order for any information to be released to athletic trainers, an authorization form would need to be signed."

The article also notes:

"One way that some schools are fulfilling the authorization constraint is by requiring athletes to sign authorization forms in order to participate in athletics. Signing the form is mandatory if the student-athlete wants to participate in athletics. "

I'm not sure whether they would consider UConn Health sports medicine as "Student Health Center" or whether UConn has its athletes sign this up-front waiver or do it on case-by-case basis.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

As an aside, one reliable way to get an educated guess as to whether a person generally knows what they are talking about with HIPAA is whether they refer to it as "HIPAA" versus "HIPPA".

 

[HooperScooper]

Meant to add that it applies to the medical staff but not to the university (Hurley). They are covered by FERPA

I was curious so I did a Google search. This is something that came up. So maybe UConn employees aren't covered under HIPAA because they're not billing the player for their medical services?

A college, university, or high school, then, is not automatically a covered entity simply because it has an athletic trainer on staff. Only if the athletic trainer bills the student-athlete or the student-athlete’s insurance plan for outside treatment may the institution become a covered entity. Further, a physician who bills, transmits claims to a health plan, or receives payments through some type of electronic form is considered a covered entity under HIPAA regulations (Magee, Almekenders, & Taft, 2003).

The Impact of the HIPAA Privacy Rule on Collegiate Sport Professionals

Submitted by: Richard Bell, Mesa State College, United States Sports Academy National Faculty, Sarah Elizabeth Ratzlaff, Disney Sports, Steven Ross Murray, Mesa State College Abstract The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted on August 21, 1996. Its fundamental...

thesportjournal.org

 

[husky429]

Actually, HIPAA does apply to the release of the patient's information. None of Liam's healthcare providers can divulge any PHI (protected health information)--in this case, about his MRI--to anyone but Liam (since he's over 18) unless he has explicitly signed the necessary HIPAA release forms. Now, if he's signed some blanked waiver about sports-related medical information release already, then yeah Hurley & staff may already know the results. And, they could divulge the information to anyone they want without any fear for committing a HIPAA violation.

Nothing you just said refuted anything I wrote. I am aware of all of this outside of the waivers--I don't remember ever signing those. Not quite sure the point you're trying to make. Your edit is interesting though... that's a weird and fine line I wouldn't want to get mucked up in.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Nothing you just said refuted anything I wrote. I am aware of all of this outside of the waivers--I don't remember ever signing those. Not quite sure the point you're trying to make.

I went back and edited my original post while you were replying. I would guess that maybe your college chose the case-by-case release of PHI model vs. a blanket waiver.

 

[HooperScooper]

Actually, HIPAA does apply to the release of the patient's information. None of Liam's healthcare providers can divulge any PHI (protected health information)--in this case, about his MRI--to anyone but Liam (since he's over 18) unless he has explicitly signed the necessary HIPAA release forms. Now, if he's signed some blanked waiver about sports-related medical information release already, then yeah Hurley & staff may already know the results. And, they could divulge the information to anyone they want without any fear for committing a HIPAA violation.

Edit: I just did a little checking, and of course with anything that has to do with Federal regs, things get clear as mud. This was a summary I found that sheds dome light on the situations that occur:

The Impact of the HIPAA Privacy Rule on Collegiate Sport Professionals

Submitted by: Richard Bell, Mesa State College, United States Sports Academy National Faculty, Sarah Elizabeth Ratzlaff, Disney Sports, Steven Ross Murray, Mesa State College Abstract The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted on August 21, 1996. Its fundamental...

thesportjournal.org

This section was most relevant:
"Depending upon the status of a team physician for college teams, there are different stipulations about what information can be shared. Some team physicians conduct part of their practice through the student health center. In this case, the physician falls under the guidelines of FERPA and should be allowed to share information with coaches and athletic trainers. A physician not employed by a university-run health center will be subject to the HIPAA guidelines. In this case it is possible that, in order for any information to be released to athletic trainers, an authorization form would need to be signed."

The article also notes:

"One way that some schools are fulfilling the authorization constraint is by requiring athletes to sign authorization forms in order to participate in athletics. Signing the form is mandatory if the student-athlete wants to participate in athletics. "

I'm not sure whether they would consider UConn Health sports medicine as "Student Health Center" or whether UConn has its athletes sign this up-front waiver or do it on case-by-case basis.

I was actually researching the question and came up with the same article but didn't see your post until after I read it and posted it.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Well Hurley shared that Stewart was dealing with pink eye and that would seem to be more private than a player who is injured on a live broadcast when fans can see exactly what happens to an ankle when it is made to twist away from the torso than the usual roll in towards the torso.

I mean we all know Liam is dealing with an ankle injury we saw it happen and then saw him wearing a boot when he returned to the bench.

Yet there have been 18 posts debating what Hurley can say or not say about a player illness/injury. Clearly they kept the pink eye situation a secret until after the game, which clearly was to not show their hand that Stewart was not 100%.

So did we really need to know that Stewart was dealing with pink eye, which I believe is highly contagious in it’s early stages.

That seems to tell me Hurley can say what he wants when he wants about how a player is doing physically.

 

[Candyman]

To answer OP's original question- Hurley meets with the media the day before the game so I wouldn't expect an update until sometime tomorrow.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I believe a wet read on a MRI takes about 20 minutes

 

[jibsey]

Why don’t we just do this the scientific way. Anyone on campus who has seen Liam walkin’ around today or talked to him? Unless he’s shut in his room the whole day that would tell us quite a bit. Still wearing the boot etc.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Nothing you just said refuted anything I wrote. I am aware of all of this outside of the waivers--I don't remember ever signing those. Not quite sure the point you're trying to make. Your edit is interesting though... that's a weird and fine line I wouldn't want to get mucked up in.

Since we're not going to hear anything about Liam's ankle for at least another 24-48h I won't feel bad about derailing this thread more

The potential situations that can arise with student-athletes seem about as grey as it can get. Another 2 articles discussing the complexity:

HIPAA vs. FERPA: High Level Guidance for Higher Ed - CampusGuard

While medical records used and stored by universities does indeed need to be protected, not all of those guidelines fall under HIPAA.

campusguard.com

Top 5 Common HIPAA “Myths” That Arise in Higher Education

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996—commonly referred to as “HIPAA”—is a federal law imposing certain data privacy and…

www.lexology.com

The other wild thing is that there is a TON of health-related information being generated and stored/shared/analyzed nowadays during the course of high-level D1 athlete training: Student-athletes are wearing all kinds of sensors, biometric devices, sweat samples, blood samples, etc., etc. in the goal of performance optimization. Some/all of it may be protected to some degree by FERPA, but it's completely outside the realm of HIPAA.

The way I read it, most day-to-day stuff (bruises, contusions, sprains, things only evaluated in-house by athletic trainers) are outside the realm of HIPAA and even FERPA may not apply if agreements/waivers are signed by the athlete before participating at the University.

More significant issues requiring higher-level medical care (surgeries, MRIs, etc.) at a non-student health clinic like a University or Non-University Hospital start to get into the weird HIPAA vs. FERPA grey area.

I'm not sure where JStew's Pink Eye falls on this continuum...


I'm done for now

 

[6in25]

Did you know that an estimated 500 to 3000 humans are killed by HIPAAs each year? They look cute, but are VERY dangerous.

 

[UC95-Duke00]

Did you know that an estimated 500 to 3000 humans are killed by HIPAAs each year? They look cute, but are VERY dangerous.

This!

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

 

[Lynyrd]

So did he break his ankle or what?

 

[Lynyrd]

I can’t stop watching

 

[Husky25]

Meant to add that it applies to the medical staff but not to the university (Hurley). They are covered by FERPA

Link

"...a college or university's health records on its students are not subject to the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Any disclosure of injury or additional information in those records to other than those specifically enumerated in FERPA can only be done if the student-athlete consents in writing."

Irrespective of the legalese, college and pro athletes "voluntarily (often a prerequisite to compete in the program)" give their consent in writing if the injury occurs on the court, field, or pitch. If the injury happens during the course of their every-day lives away from the athletic facility and was treated by professional outside of the program, the information is protected, but can be made public by the injured party.

The fact that McNeeley's injured his leg is not private. Everyone saw him limp off the court with help. Everyone saw him wearing a boot on the bench. If he slipped on the ice near Mirror Lake, it'd be a different story.

I liken it to the Jason Pierre-Paul fireworks injury. If JPP pulled a hamstring in practice, he'll be on the injury report for the next game, but it was against the law to disclose private info surrounding him blowing up his hand. People were fired over the release of his medical report.

 

[willie99]

C'mon boys, anyone ever see an NFL injury report?

Vegas rules

And Hurley keeps everyone guessing

Laws have nothing to do with this

 

[dennismenace]

Did you know that an estimated 500 to 3000 humans are killed by HIPAAs each year? They look cute, but are VERY dangerous.

 

[HooperScooper]

Where's @Doctor Hoop when we need him? He could end this discussion with a real answer.

Gotta be honest though, this topic is way more interesting to me than reading the Daylight or Standard Time thread.

 

[NowInStorrs]

Did you know that an estimated 500 to 3000 humans are killed by HIPAAs each year? They look cute, but are VERY dangerous.

I am not a medical expert so I don't know for sure, but I would imagine that a HIPAA stepping on your ankle could be detrimental to said ankle.

 

[Scottobot]

I would guess best case scenario is missing 3 games, with most likely scenario being back at the end of the month, as long as it’s not some unusually severe sprain or ankle injury.
Hopefully team can win without him so they can give him extra time.