Question: Can I ask a health care provider (dental student) if they are vaccinated?

[rurallib]

The dental school receptionist just told me that it was against HIPPA.

I know there has been much discussion on this here before. I have always been confused by what I can and can't ask.

And then if I get an unvaccinated dentist what do I do?

[spooky3]

1. You MAY ask any person if they are vaccinated. Your health care provider

cannot reveal your medical info to a third party without your permission.

I’m not a lawyer.

[Siwsan]

2. You can ask. They just don't have to answer.

It's not as if you are DEMANDING the information.

But, if they won't answer, that likely means they are not vaccinated.

[lagomorph777]

17. Right - no answer means they are unvaccinated.

Run the other way.

By the way, worst dental disaster of my life was trusting dental students to do a root canal. It took many weeks of horribly painful procedures; I lost the tooth a few months later.

[LakeArenal]

3. An individual can be asked.

If they refuse to answer I’ll assume not vaxed.

[JohnSJ]

15. Exactly

[hlthe2b]

4. That receptionist does not understand what HIPAA is, apparently. YES YOU CAN ASK.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/does-hipaa-prohibit-questions-about-vaccination-202108192575
Do her a favor and print this out for her.

And ask freely. If the answer is no or a refusal to tell, you, I'd suggest your next words to be: GOODBYE

[SheltieLover]

7. That's what I've been doing!

[Journeyman]

11. Thanks for the link. A straightforward, succinct explanation of what HIPAA is and what it isn't. . .

Good to know. Good to share.

[mucifer]

5. It's their choice if they want to share that info with you. You can ask. It has nothing to do with

HIPPA unless you are asking them about someone else. But, if you ask the person directly they can tell you or they can tell you to eff off.

Just remember vaccinated people often carry the delta virus so you are not protected just because your health care provider is vaccinated. If you both wear a mask you should be good.

[boston bean]

8. Kinda hard to go for dental treatment with a mask over your mouth.

[mucifer]

14. Yes you are correct. I wasn't thinking. Oy vey! Yes, best to have a dentist who believes in

science. But, still they can carry it if they are vaccinated. They do say the mask protects others. My dentist was double masking before she was able to get the vaccine. She probably still is. Oy I need to make an appointment.

[boston bean]

16. I got all my teeth stuff in June. Knowing I might not make it back due to covid increasing.

Hopefully won’t need again soon.

[lagomorph777]

18. Vaccinated people are LESS likely to carry the virus, not more.

Please don't imply otherwise. Vaccinated people, of course, tend to be more careful in general. While, yes, less likely to exhibit symptoms, we are also more likely to recover faster and shed virus for a shorter time.

[bottomofthehill]

6. you can ask anyone if they are vaccinated

[Effete Snob]

9. Bullshit, you can ask anyone

And if they don't want to answer, then you can tell them you are taking your business elsewhere.

You can ask anyone anything you like. You have a First Amendment right to ask anyone, anything, anytime. In general, they have the right to tell you to go fuck yourself. But if they want your business, they'll answer your question.

[forgotmylogin]

10. HIPAA restricts third parties with access to information from giving it out without authorization.

It does not prevent anyone from asking the question. If you were asking a third-party health care provider about someone else's vaccination status, that would likely be prevented by HIPAA. Asking the individual or giving out your own info is not prohibited.

It's not against HIPAA for the receptionist to tell you whether she herself is vaccinated, or for you to ask. It is up to her whether she discloses it though. She presumably could not tell you the status of others (like the dentist) though.

[marybourg]

13. I disagree with your last sentence.

The receptionist is neither the dentist’s health care provider, nor her insurer, therefore HIPAA is irrelevant

If the dentist wants people to know she’s vaccinated, she’ll tell the receptionist to tell the patients so. If the dentist doesn’t want her patients to know whether or not she’s vaccinated, she’ll tell the receptionist not to tell. The patients can then draw his own conclusion and act accordingly.

I just, in the last hour, went through this with my dentist’s receptionist. (The dentist is vaxxed. One hygienist is not. I insisted on the vaxxed one)

[Cicada]

12. You can ask anyone about their medical condition

They have a right not to answer, but nothing writing in asking.

[Fiendish Thingy]

19. It's not against HIPAA to ask. If the dental school doesn't understand HIPAA, stay away. Nt

[Treefrog]

20. HIPAA.

[LuckyCharms]

23. +1

[LuckyCharms]

22. Yes. You can ask anyone whatever you want to in regard to the vax.

And asking does not violate HIPAA.

[tanyev]

24. You can also ask how much PPE they wear when working on patients.

I don’t know if they were vaccinated yet at my appt 6 months ago—I wasn’t—but I felt very secure because they had on smocks, gloves, N95s and shields. I was a little surprised at my appt a couple weeks ago that that had been reduced to gloves and a surgical mask, but the hygienist told me that was the current recommendation from whatever their oversight board is called, and that she was vaccinated. The dentist did have an N95 on when she came to check on me at the end of the appt.

[Hekate]

25. You can ask and you should insist. Their citing HIPPA is pure bullshit.

Their refusal to answer is an answer.

[rurallib]

26. Thank you all very much. What you all said is pretty much what I thought

I doubt that a specific student has been assigned yet. I will wait until closer to the appointment time and call the school for information on my specific dentist.