Yes, HIPAA has guaranteed that right to every injured victim/claimant.
What is HIPAA?
Those letters stand for Health Information Portability and Accountability Act. It gives each person the right to examine his or her own medical records.
Are there other individuals that could gain access to certain medical records?
Yes, a designated representative could get the records for the represented individual. In most situations, a parent has the right to obtain a child’s medical records. A legal guardian has the right to request the records for someone under that guardian’s care.
What are some situations where a parent would not have the right to get a child’s medical records?
• A parent would not have that right if a child had consented to medical care, and parental consent was not required.
• A parent would lose that right if a court had mandated the care that would be given to the child.
• Parents lose that right if their child has been granted a confidential relationship, one that involves just a doctor and the parents’ son or daughter.
Do patients have to expect that all of their information will be shared with others, at some point?
No, there are times when certain documents do not get shared. If a patient had seen a psychotherapist, then the psychotherapist’s notes would not be shared with others.
If the patient’s health provider were planning to use some of the patient’s information in a lawsuit, then the same health provider could keep others from seeing those documents that had the ability to become evidence, as per Personal Injury Lawyer in St. Thomas.
If a health provider were to believe that the release of a certain piece of information about his or her patient could have the ability to endanger that same patient, then those specific records could be kept away from prying eyes.
Do HIPAA rules just apply to doctors, or do they apply to anyone in the health care field?
Those rules apply to anyone in that field. If someone were writing a grant, in hopes of improving patient care, then he or would need to make sure that the subjects of any mentioned or planned study could not be identified.
If a group of researchers were associated with a hospital, then those researchers would also have to obey the HIPAA rules. Consequently, the person supervising all of those researchers would need to meet with them, and explain how specific information could be kept from prying eyes.
Nurses, lab technicians, even those that handle a given patient’s paperwork need to follow the rules that are part of the HIPAA regulations. Whenever something could be shared with others, it should be transported or ported to the correct facility in as expeditious a manner as possible.