Health Information Technology & Privacy
Universal Patient Authorization Forms
Section 408.051, known as the Florida Electronic Health Records Exchange Act, required the Agency for Health Care Administration to develop a universal patient authorization form that may be used by a health care provider to document a patient’s permission for the use or release of health records. Health care providers that receive this form must accept it as valid. If a health care provider exchanges a health record upon receipt of the form, there is a rebuttable presumption that the release was appropriate. Additionally, the health care provider is immune from civil liability for accessing or releasing the health record. AHCA elected to develop two separate forms. One form is designed to allow full disclosure of health information, but the information may be used only for treatment and patient safety or quality of care purposes. The form is available at this link: http://www.fhin.net/pdf/privacyRegulations/FLconsentFinalFull060410.pdf. Because both Florida law and HIPAA already allow most health information to be disclosed for treatment purposes without a patient’s authorization, a form that may be useful for a greater number of situations is the Universal Patient Authorization Form for Limited Disclosure of Health Information. This form, available at http://www.fhin.net/pdf/privacyRegulations/FLconsentFinalLimited060410.pdf, allows the patient to initial lines or check boxes allowing disclosure of specific information to particular individuals or organizations.
More information on the forms are available at this link: http://www.fhin.net/pdf/privacyRegulations/ForHealthCareProviders.pdf
Reported By: Shannon Salimone Hartsfield
HIPAA Preempts F.S. §440.145 regarding release of nursing home resident’s healthcare records
Opis Management Resources, LLC v. Dudek (N.D. Fla. December 2011)
In this declaratory judgment action, the Plaintiffs specifically alleged that the release of deceased residents’ health care records should be limited to court appointed “personal representatives” under Florida probate law. Defendants argued, however, that section 400.145 permitted the release of healthcare records to designated persons prior to the administration of an estate. In holding that HIPAA preempts the state statute, the court reasoned that under section 400.145 inconsistent results could occur where a person who didn’t qualify to serve as a personal representative could still access the decedent’s health records. Therefore, determining that section 400.145 affords a patient far less protection, the court held that it was preempted by HIPAA. For more information please see 2011 WL 6024092.
Reported By: Malinda R. Lugo