Question 4

January 21, 2017

Question:

Your patient is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease. He lives with his adult daughter, who tells you that she keeps a gun in the home. You should:

Answers

Answer:

Not talk to the daughter about the gun, as that would violate HIPAA.

Correct Answer?

Explanation:

Incorrect. The patient's daughter has provided you with the information about the gun, so you are not revealing protected health information by counseling her about how to make the gun less accessible. Also, HIPAA allows you to share information with a patient's family members as long as the patient does not object or you believe the communication is in the patient's best interests and is directly related to the family member's involvement in the patient's care.

Answers

Answer:

Ask the daughter if she has concerns about the patient’s ability to access the weapon, and discuss ways to make sure the gun is inaccessible to the patient, ranging from safe storage to disposal of the weapon.

Correct Answer?

Explanation:

Correct. A patient suffering from Alzheimer's disease would be at increased risk for gun injury or death, and it's appropriate to work with the daughter on mitigating the risk that a gun could pose if accessible to the patient.

Answers

Answer:

Report the presence of the gun in the home as elder abuse.

Correct Answer?

Explanation:

Incorrect. The presence of a weapon in the home would not trigger reasonable cause to believe an elderly person has been abused.

Answers

Answer:

Tell the daughter that the patient can no longer live with her unless she gets rid of the gun.

Correct Answer?

Explanation:

Not quite. There are ways to make a gun in the home less accessible if the daughter prefers to keep the weapon.

Format:

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