The family of a deceased patient is requesting the patients original medical records. Can my office refuse?
Yes, in some instances. The privacy protections HIPAA affords are not limited durationally, therefore the medical record of a deceased patient is subject to all restraints on disclosure that are applicable to the record of a living patient. Typically a patient’s “authorization” would be required to release the record. When authorization is unavailable, however, HIPAA permits disclosure of medical records in two scenarios. First, disclosures for treatment purposes are permitted. The Protected Health Information of the deceased can be released to another health care provider to facilitate that provider’s treatment of a surviving family member. Second, dislosures to persons who are legally authorized to act for the decedent patient are allowed. Physicians presented with such a request from a representative of a decedent should be certain that; 1) the requestor has the legal authority to act for the decedent or the decedent’s estate, 2) the requested information is relevant to the requesto
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