H1N1 HIPPA Confirmation/Release Available

Over the past several months, the press has reported on the potential outbreak of the H1N1 virus, more commonly referred to as the swine flu. The federal government has issued guidance for employers in dealing with the swine flu. These publications are available on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, www.cdc.gov/h1n1Flu. The recommendations include reviewing business policies and procedures and encouraging employees to get flu shots.

Commercial building managers are put in an interesting situation with the swine flu. If a tenant tells a building manager that its employee has the swine flu, the building manager must act quickly with an eye towards the health and safety of other tenants. At the same time, if the tenant’s employee does not actually have the swine flu, but the building manager tells other tenants that the employee does, it will cause an unnecessary panic for all involved.

Because of the media coverage of the swine flu, misdiagnosis and self diagnosis has become common. Individuals across the country have thought they contracted the swine flu when, in reality, they were not actually sick. They were self diagnosing their illness based on information available via the Internet and TV. To avoid causing a panic when none is needed, building managers should first seek confirmation that the employee actually has the swine flu.

This requires the building manager to get around federal laws related to patient privacy. Federal laws restrict what information physicians may share with someone else about a patient. To satisfy these restrictions, Locke Lord has drafted a waiver which will allow a building manager to confirm an individual’s swine flu diagnosis with his or her physician. When a tenant’s employee claims to have the swine flu, the Texas BOMA member may get the employee to sign this waiver, then may contact the physician to confirm he or she was actually diagnosed with the swine flu. These waivers are available on our website here.

The swine flu is a serious issue for everyone. All employers should be prepared to handle an outbreak, and building managers are no exception. By using this waiver, Texas BOMA members will be better prepared act responsibly and respond quickly to any potential case of the swine flu in the building.

Texas BOMA Legislative Update

by Robert D. Miller, Yuniedth Midence Steen, and Gardner Pate

September 4, 2009