Can information from medical records be released without the patients consent?
Some information must be released without the patient’s consent. These situations include: • treatment of gunshot wounds to law enforcement officials; • suspected child and elder abuse to the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services and law enforcement; and • positive HIV tests (without the patient’s name) and AIDS diagnoses (with the patient’s name) to the Texas Department of State Health Services and local health department. • Medicare records must be made available promptly to representatives of the Department of Health and Human Services. • Medicaid records must be made available promptly to Texas Department of State Health Services, the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Texas Medicaid Health Partnership, and the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services. In none of these situations is the patient’s authorization for release of information required.
