Early Bird

How MSU Denver is honoring individual privacy and community safety

Why HIPAA regulations narrow the scope of public information about positive COVID-19 cases.

By Lindsey Coulter

March 23, 2020

Metropolitan State University of Denver has always valued access, transparency and communication. As our campus community experienced its first positive case of COVID-19, however, the University was legally required to balance these values against individual privacy laws.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act establishes national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and other personal health information. HIPAA requires appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy of personal health information and sets limits and conditions on the uses and disclosures that may be made of such information without patient authorization. It also gives patients rights over their health information, including rights to examine and obtain a copy of their health records and to request corrections.

“While still observing HIPAA and the privacy of individual Roadrunners, the University will provide as much information as is appropriate as we continue to navigate the spread of COVID-19 throughout our Denver community and beyond,” said Steve Monaco, director of the Health Center at Auraria.

For more information on HIPAA, please visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Information Privacy webpage.

For up-to-the-minute information on MSU Denver’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, please refer to the COVID-19 Updates and Resources page. There, you can submit specific questions about MSU Denver’s response to the pandemic.