A law enforcement official may request the medical records of a certain patient. Thus, it is important that healthcare organizations understand how to appropriately respond to such a request and avoid HIPAA breaches and associated fines.
What to do if you are contacted by a law enforcement agency regarding release of HIPAA protected patient records? If you have never received one of these it may be confusing. Please see the additional articles and resources below to educate yourself on various scenarios that may happen to you and how to handle it. Thank you to one of our members for bringing this real-life scenario to our attention and helping to educate our providers and their staff.
Additional Articles/Resources:
MagMutual Article ->https://www.magmutual.com/learning/article/law-enforcement-exception-hipaa-what-providers-need-know/
Download -> Health Insurance Portability andAccountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule:A Guide for Law Enforcement