HIPAA Medical Records Releases
HIPAA Authorization – HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.It is a federal law that protects the privacy of people’s medical records. However, it often
becomes necessary for a health care agent to have this information in order to make an informed
decision. A HIPAA medical release authorizes your doctor to release otherwise private medical
records to assist your agent in making decisions on your behalf. Although a good Health Care
Proxy document has HIPAA Authorization language within it, it is helpful to have a more
comprehensive document in case a health care provider is hesitant to release information based
solely on a Health Care Proxy. Further, there are instances where someone may require access to
another’s medical records, but not necessarily for the purpose of making health care decisions.
Since the HIPAA language contained in a good Health Care Proxy is limited in scope, it is good
practice to have a more general HIPAA authorization.
For example, another instance where a HIPAA authorization is useful is when a child goes off to
college. If a child gets injured or sick while away at school, his or her parents may receive a call
from their child’s college roommate telling them something is wrong with their child. However,
when the parents call the college’s health center, the staff will be unable, due to HIPAA
restrictions, to disclose their child’s condition, or even to confirm or deny whether their child is a
patient there. This is an agonizing situation for any parent to be in.
The parents will have to drive to the college and wait until their child is able to give the medical
staff consent to speak with the parents and let them know what is happening.
This and other unfortunate scenarios can be avoided if a HIPAA authorization is in place. Call us
so that we may prepare this important document for you or someone you love.
