Welcome to the October Compliance Blog Post!
We are back with a Compliance Blog Post for October 2023. This month, we are talking about HIPAA!
As part of HealthPoint’s ongoing HIPAA Security Program, Brian Thurston and Katherine Hall (the HIPAA Security and Privacy Officers) are sending out quarterly HIPAA reminders. To kick off the fourth Quarter of 2023, we are discussing the different consent forms we use to release medical records.
Before you read further, please take a moment to take THIS QUIZ! The quiz is a quick check of your knowledge of consent and the differences between the forms we use. All responses are anonymous, and we will be using this to gauge the need for additional training!
As an organization, we rely on different consent forms to release medical information appropriately. Below are the most common types of releases and how they are used.
Patient Initiated Medical Release
- When should it be used? This form should be used if a patient needs medical records sent to another healthcare facility, a job, etc. In this form, they designate who we are to release the records to and how they are to be released (fax, paper copy, etc.), and patients can determine what will be released to them.
- What does it allow us to disclose? Whatever the patient tells us, we can, except for Behavioral Health records. Behavioral health records require a provider’s release.
- What does it not do? Release anything not authorized by the patient.
Third-Party Release
- When should it be used? Any time a patient has someone else, they would like to have access to their health information, a non-healthcare facility. This could be for a partner, a parent (if the child is an adult), a close friend, or another relative helping with the patient’s care.
- What does it allow us to disclose? We can give these people patient information as appropriate if the form is filled out and valid.
- What does it not do? A Third party cannot sign an additional release of information for a patient.
Medical Records Authorization to Release
- When should it be used? We have patients fill this out when we need records from another (non-HealthPoint) provider’s office sent to us. Patients fill this out, and then we send it to the other provider’s office.
- What does it allow us to disclose? Nothing! We are sending this to another provider for them to do the disclosure.
- What does it not do? It does not allow us to disclose medical information.
Hopefully, this clears up some confusion around consent and when to use which form! Next month, we will tackle the rest of the consent forms (Consent to Treat by a Minor, Consent to Treat by Non-Parent, etc.!)
We are Here to Help!
If you have any questions about any of this content, please reach out to our compliance team at: Compliance@HealthPoint-tx.com
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