BCP Confidentiality and Informed Consent 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client with an intellectual disability is referred for testing. Who determines whether the client can provide informed assent?
- The psychometrist administering the test
- The supervising licensed psychologist (Correct answer)
- The referral source
- The billing department
Correct answer: The supervising licensed psychologist
The supervising psychologist determines capacity to provide assent and ensures legal guardians provide consent when needed.
Question 2: Under which federal law must healthcare entities provide clients with a Notice of Privacy Practices before collecting health information?
- FERPA
- ADA
- HIPAA Privacy Rule (Correct answer)
- The Rehabilitation Act
Correct answer: HIPAA Privacy Rule
The HIPAA Privacy Rule requires covered entities to provide a Notice of Privacy Practices explaining how health information will be used and protected.
Question 3: A psychometrist receives a subpoena for a client's test records. The correct first step is to:
- Immediately comply and release all records
- Destroy the records to protect client privacy
- Notify the supervising psychologist and consult legal counsel (Correct answer)
- Release only the summary report
Correct answer: Notify the supervising psychologist and consult legal counsel
A subpoena is not automatically a court order; legal counsel and the supervising psychologist must be consulted before releasing records.
Question 4: The 'minimum necessary' standard under HIPAA requires that disclosures of protected health information be:
- Comprehensive so recipients have full context
- Limited to only what is needed to accomplish the purpose (Correct answer)
- Approved by the patient for each individual disclosure
- Reviewed by an IRB before release
Correct answer: Limited to only what is needed to accomplish the purpose
The minimum necessary standard restricts disclosures to only the information required to fulfill the specific purpose.
Question 5: If a client revokes consent to release information after testing is complete, the psychometrist should:
- Honor the revocation for future disclosures but cannot undo past disclosures already made (Correct answer)
- Ignore the revocation because consent was valid at the time
- Retroactively retrieve all previously shared records
- Only honor the revocation if it is submitted in writing
Correct answer: Honor the revocation for future disclosures but cannot undo past disclosures already made
Clients may revoke consent at any time, but revocation does not apply retroactively to disclosures already lawfully made.
Question 6: A school psychometrist is asked to share a student's test data with a classroom teacher. This is permissible under FERPA if:
- The student's parents provide signed HIPAA authorization
- The teacher has a legitimate educational interest in the information (Correct answer)
- The student is over age 16 and verbally agrees
- The principal approves the disclosure in writing
Correct answer: The teacher has a legitimate educational interest in the information
FERPA permits disclosure to school officials, including teachers, who have a legitimate educational interest in accessing the records.
Question 7: A psychometrist is testing an inmate at a correctional facility. Which statement best describes the informed consent challenge in this context?
- Inmates waive all privacy rights upon incarceration
- Voluntariness of consent may be compromised by the coercive institutional environment (Correct answer)
- Standard outpatient consent procedures fully apply
- Consent is not required because the state has jurisdiction
Correct answer: Voluntariness of consent may be compromised by the coercive institutional environment
In correctional settings, the power imbalance and institutional environment can compromise the voluntariness of informed consent.
BCP Confidentiality and Informed Consent 3
A client with an intellectual disability is referred for testing.
Who determines whether the client can provide informed assent?