HIPAA Attestations in PI Cases
New HIPAA rules may affect how you handle PI and workers’ comp records. Quick summary: get attestations from attorneys before releasing records for legal use. Watch the video to learn more!
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Transcript:
We got a question from a member last week that centered around the new requirements for receiving attestations in certain circumstances when records requests are received. And as we began to dig into this, we realized that it actually is a bigger question and potentially has an impact on all of your practices when dealing with personal injury cases, specifically, or potentially workers’ compensation cases. And here is why there are only certain circumstances when the attestation is required for reproductive health questions or issues or items that are contained in your medical records or intake forms, or things along those lines related to reproductive health, and those all center around activities related to health oversight or law enforcement or regarding decedents and and specifically dealing with coroners and medical examiners. However, there is a fourth area, and that is judicial and administrative proceedings. That specific one is the one that kind of raised the flag for us, and we wanted to make sure that we had provided you with the appropriate amount of information.
So this is important. We believe this is a critical part, and especially in PI cases. So when we’re dealing with PI cases, those are records when they’re requested by attorneys, very well, may be used in judicial or administrative proceedings, and as a result, then you need to make sure that you have protected yourself, that you’re not releasing this information that is counter to what to some of the exceptions and rules that HHS has now applied regarding HIPAA. And so we believe that in PI cases, most likely you’re going to want to just simply request an attestation from the attorney. And we’ll provide a link to that, because HHS has released model attestation language. And so it becomes a bit easier for you, and you can also see how this lays out.
Now, why is this important? Most likely, when you are, when you’re taking in a patient for a PI case, if there’s going to be any kind of imaging, you very well are going to be asking about their pregnancy status, right? If you’re, if you’re going to be x-raying or having images performed for a patient that is female, then you’re probably going to ask, and you’re going to document that you have asked about their pregnancy status. You may ask about their sexual health. US West trees, the general form, the large form, the standard form for us, West trees actually requests information or asks about their sexual activity. And so that is another reproductive health arena, anything that deals with reproductive health. And so that could actually delve deep into your notes. It may just be a part of the conversation and your intake. It may be a part of the health examination that took place at the beginning of the PI case. You may have documented some things for the patient in your documentation, specifically related to either sexual activity or their pregnancy status, or whatever the case might be. All of those are going to be important for you in your intake and in your examination. So it’s probably going to be included in your health record, in your intake forms, things along those lines, because it’s a personal injury case, because those cases sometimes land and deal with judicial or administrative proceedings, in those cases, you want to make sure that you’re protected.
So we’re making a general recommendation to our members that in personal injury cases and work comp cases that you actually receive from those who are requesting medical records in those cases, you receive an attestation that says that they’re not going to be using the information for prohibited purposes. So hopefully this information helps you out, but make sure that you do request for those attestations. Have a great week.
