HIPAA is not related to this. HIPAA is regarding medical professionals. Otherwise, no teams could release ANY reasons any player was out (knee, hamstring, concussion, etc)-->all of those would be HIPAA violations as well if HIPAA applied to non-medical professions.
a. Covered entities
There are three types of
covered entities under HIPAA.
- Health care providers get paid to provide health care. Doctors, dentists, hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies, urgent care clinics, and other entities that provide health care in exchange for payment are examples of providers.
Health care providers must comply with HIPAA only if they transmit health information electronically in connection with covered transactions. Most providers transmit information electronically to carry out functions such as processing claims and receiving payment. Therefore, most providers are covered under HIPAA.
- Health plans pay the cost of medical care.
The following are examples of health plans covered under HIPAA: health insurance companies, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), group health plans sponsored by an employer, government-funded health plans such as Medicare and Medicaid, and most other companies or arrangements that pay for health care.
- Health care clearinghouses process information so that it can be transmitted in a standard format between covered entities. Clearinghouses often act as a go between for health care providers and health plans which means that they rarely deal directly with patients. For example, a clearinghouse may take information from a doctor and put it into a standard coded format that can be used for insurance purposes.
For more information on whether an entity is covered under HIPAA, HHS provides a helpful
chart.