Can a VA Center have cameras in the waiting room does HIPAA regulate it?

Answer 1

Terrific question! The real question isn't so much the cameras though -- which are probably legal -- but the steps taken to (a) secure the footage so the patients privacy rights aren't violated, (b) and the patients access to the recordings, which should be accorded under the law.

Bear in mind that HIPAA has really never been tested in court. All DOJ HIPAA cases have had their HIPAA components dropped, and replaced by more established law (for instance, a nurse who stole terminal patients' credit card info was originally charged under HIPAA, but that charge was dropped in favor of an Identity Theft charge).

As video surveillance imagery is clearly Individually Identifiable Health Information (IIHI) and and the VA acts as a Covered Entity (CE) under this law, I'd say HIPAA does indeed regulate it, but the lack of case law is going to make this issue ... interesting.