HIPAA

While state medical boards and other agencies establish guidelines for the maintenance and release of medical records, United States federal law also addresses the handling of medical records. The Health Information Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) outlines extensive regulations and confidentiality issues to which health care providers and medical professionals must adhere.

Within the dense legislation, regulations are set for the procedural requirements and timely release of records, reasonable fees, emergency requests, improper withholdings and other matters. Texas Medical Board Rules §165.2 detail some of these regulations:

• 15-business-day deadline for release of records

• Reasonable fees for printing of records and affidavits

• No charge for retrieval or searching

• May wait for payment for medical records, unless it is an emergency

• May not require fees for medical services to be paid before releasing records

The most common medical records violations for which the firm provides legal representation include: failure to supply medical records in the allotted time, failure to properly document root prescriptions, failure to document rationale for treatment, and various others.

As the Texas Medical Board rules stipulate, federal law, specifically HIPAA, holds precedence over state regulations, unless state regulations are more restrictive. If you face a formal action, hearing or peer review relating to the release of medical records, you need a medical board defense attorney who is familiar with federal legislation. Having successfully defended cases in administrative proceedings and state and federal courts, the Tew Law Firm is prepared to handle your case.

Protect Yourself from Consequences

Medical professionals are expected to have a solid grasp of these regulations and must make certain that their medical staff understands them as well. Strict regulatory actions will not accept a defense that staff members overlooked the relevant deadlines and regulations when they failed to deliver medical records to a patient or when they committed another violation. Medical boards will periodically publish statistics concerning physicians who failed to timely produce medical records, and the disciplinary actions taken are too serious to allow your case to go undefended. If you would like to discuss your case and what you can do to defend against the serious consequences, contact the Tew Law Firm today.