By law the patient, or representative of the patient, must give authorization for disclosing any information about medical records. Authorization must be obtained if the records are needed for special cases such as mental health issues, alcohol and drug abuse, HIV test results, assault and GBH, and the records of minors. The only times that authorization may not need to be obtained for the disclosure of information is if the third party making the request is using it for treatment, payment or healthcare operations. It can be disclosed if the information is required by law or for peer review, quality assurance or improvement. In some states, the information may be disclosed without authorization for law enforcement officers, coroners, medical examiners, funeral directors or agencies involved in tissue and organ donations. Doctors will not be able to discuss your medical records with anyone else unless you have given them authorization to say that is appropriate to do so.
As a patient, you have the right to request any information from your medical records at any time, providing that it is done in writing. You can choose to communicate with your doctor via email, but it must be done with a protected email account. Precautions must be carried out to ensure that only you and the doctor will see the email correspondence, and that your name and patient number is not mentioned. If any of your medical information has been disclosed in a way that you think is unfair and highly inappropriate, you do have the right to appeal. You can also write to negotiate the disclosure of your medical records in all situations if you want to give authorization for any requests made by third parties. If you have any doubts about your medical records, it is important to speak to your doctor about it.
As a patient, you have the right to request any information from your medical records at any time, providing that it is done in writing. You can choose to communicate with your doctor via email, but it must be done with a protected email account. Precautions must be carried out to ensure that only you and the doctor will see the email correspondence, and that your name and patient number is not mentioned. If any of your medical information has been disclosed in a way that you think is unfair and highly inappropriate, you do have the right to appeal. You can also write to negotiate the disclosure of your medical records in all situations if you want to give authorization for any requests made by third parties. If you have any doubts about your medical records, it is important to speak to your doctor about it.
