HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.510(b)(5) — Uses and disclosures when the individual is deceased

What this control requires

Standard: Uses and disclosures for involvement in the individual's care and notification purposes (5) Uses and disclosures when the individual is deceased. If the individual is deceased, a covered entity may disclose to a family member, or other persons identified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section who were involved in the individuals care or payment for health care prior to the individuals death, protected health information of the individual that is relevant to such persons involvement, unless doing so is inconsistent with any prior expressed preference of the individual that is known to the covered entity.

In plain English

Standard: Uses and disclosures for involvement in the individual's care and notification purposes (5) Uses and disclosures when the individual is deceased. In practice, this means you can prove you information management-level controls on a defined cadence.

Why it matters

HIPAA non-compliance is a strict-liability matter: OCR civil monetary penalties are assessed per-record per-violation (up to USD 1.9 million per identical-violation calendar year as of 2024), and willful neglect can trigger criminal referral.

What an auditor looks for

HHS OCR investigators and SOC-2+HIPAA auditors look for the specific 45 CFR § citation, whether the safeguard is required vs addressable (and if addressable, the documented decision), the implementation specification, the workforce member responsible, and the records that show it runs.

Within Privacy Rule, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (§ 164.510(b)(5)) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

How to implement

Policy Management

Docs. Keep each policy in version-controlled Markdown alongside the code that implements it; ship a signed PDF snapshot at each annual review and link the SHA into the SoA.

Operational checklist

• Information. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Other. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Policy. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Notification. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Uses. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Scope: management, individuals, notification, policy, section, uses, family member, death.

Evidence to collect

• Policy Document. A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document.

Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Uses and disclosures when the individual is deceased.

Common pitfalls

• Policies that no engineer has read; the version in Confluence drifts from the version that's actually being enforced.

How it maps to other frameworks

Computed from shared tags, control component and key-operation subjects — handy when you are reconciling controls across an audit.

• NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-15(4) — Explicitly Indicate Current Participants
• BSI C5:2020 SP-01 — Documentation, communication and provision of policies and instructions

Related controls in HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164)

• § 164.510(b)(1) — Permitted uses and disclosures
• § 164.510(b)(3) — Limited uses and disclosures when the individual is not present
• § 164.510(b)(4) — Uses and disclosures for disaster relief purposes
• § 164.528(d) — Documentation
• § 164.510(b)(2) — Uses and disclosures with the individual present
• § 164.502(f) — Deceased individuals

References

• U.S. HHS Office for Civil Rights — HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164)
• Catalogue identifier: § 164.510(b)(5)

Topics: governance riskpolicy management