Wiki Medical Records

heartyoga

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We have doctors' offices requesting records from our office for preop, etc. We provide them with our office notes. Sometimes they request xrays, EKGs, procedures done/interpreted by our doctor in the hospital and printed off from the hospital medical record system. Are we allowed to provide them with those? I am told differently by different staff members. Some say yes we can give it to them because our doctor read/interpreted them. Some say that these records are from the hospital system so technically they are maintained by the hospital- and they should request them from the hospital.

My thinking is why create "roadblocks" for patient care when we have the records in the chart? But at the same time, i want to be doing the right thing in terms of HIPAA and compliance.

Any clarification is appreciated. Thanks.
 
HIPAA allows for the sharing of patient information between healthcare providers for the purposes of treatment, payment, and operations without patient authorization. As long as you are releasing only the minimum amount necessary to fulfill the needs for the patient's care or treatment, you should be fine from a HIPAA perspective.

However, you do want to check your state laws to make sure that they do not have a more stringent standard than Federal HIPAA (most don't in regards to this kind of sharing). Also, review any confidentiality agreement you may have signed with the hospital that allows you to access their EHR to make sure there are no provisions that prohibit this sharing. I saw one hospital confidentiality agreement that prohibited the "downloading, transmitting, and/or printing" of any document with PHI. If in doubt, contact the Hospital's Privacy Officer.

Hope that helps.

Sincerely,

Jennifer M. Connell, CPC, CPCO, CPC-P, CPB, CPMA, CPPM, CPC-I, CENTC
 
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