Under HIPAA, when can a clinician disclose a client's information to another provider without the client's consent?

• A. For treatment coordination with the minimum necessary information, without client consent.
• B. Only with written client authorization.
• C. Whenever the client requests it.
• D. For marketing purposes.

Answer: (A)

For treatment coordination between providers, HIPAA allows sharing of the minimum necessary protected health information without the client’s consent. This keeps care continuous and effective while limiting what is disclosed to only what’s needed for the other provider to treat the patient. Written authorization isn’t required for this purpose, because the Privacy Rule explicitly permits such disclosures to coordinate care. Disclosures for marketing or other non-treatment uses typically require patient authorization, and simply relying on a patient’s broad request isn’t a blanket permission for all disclosures. In short, the shared, minimal information to another provider for treatment coordination can happen without consent.