HIPPA Question

[SRL]

I'm filling out enrollment forms for school and one of the forms is an authorization for release of records. It has boxes to check for cummulative record including birth certificate, special education records, psychological records, and health records along with place for parent signature.

Then at the bottom in all caps it states IN ACCORDANCE WITH REVISED FEDERAL AND STATE STATUES, PERMISSION OF THE PARENT OR ADULT STUDENT IS NO LONGER REQUIRED WHEN RECORDS ARE REQUESTED BY AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL.

Our district is usually on the ball when it comes to special ed law, etc, so if true this means Hippa gives schools authorization to access any medical or mental health records without parent permission. It's really quite alarming.

Is anyone else seeing this kind of verbage on school forms?

[LittleDudesMom]

I've not see this yet!!! Huh?????

[StepTo2]

I suspect that "Authorized Personnel" means law enforcement.

STILL. I'd ask for clarification. This is just FRIGHTENING.

...If BM works for the hospital network in which I am being treated, as a nurse, then wouldn't she have access to records? Exactly. That would make her authorized personnel. My file is red-flagged because I wouldn't put it past her.

[Dammit Janet]

Im thinking Authorized Personnel means Law Enforcement, Social Services, Social Security, and other agencies such as those. The military if a child was going in to that. I would imagine all the acronyms in federal and state government.

[slsh]

This may shed some light.

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs...nt+Records+Act.

I don't take that to mean they can *request* anything they want. Medical records are still medical records and I think the protection of those is pretty sacrosanct. An SD would have a hard time arguing they're involved in patient care. The only exception I can think of would be if the child receives Medicaid, which SDs can bill for OT/PT/ST/etc. Then there might be a loophole in terms of SD requesting medical info from health care providers.

But certainly the fact that the SD is advising you that they can release records to "authorized personnel" without consent might be a reason to reconsider what you want to give them access to.

[Dammit Janet]

My only thinking that this would be here would be that if a legal entity needed access to these files and got a court order, they would be turned over. You would not be told in advance. I can see this happening in the cases of child abuse, school shootings, and those such things.

[SRL]

Thanks for the input, everyone. This was for enrolling a PC so I didn't even fill out the form. My eyes sure popped open wide when I read it though, and wanted to check into it further.

[Sheila]

My eyes popped out at that!

I trust no one, so I'd have to add verbiage to that statement, e.g., Parent interprets "authorized personnel" to be law enforcement agencies only (or something to that effect). The term "authorized personnel" is too broad and if it's on school district papers, it could be interpreted that parent is authorizing some segment of school district personnel to obtain records that they really shouldn't have access to.

[JJJ]

I'm rarely sign documents like that, if they can legally give the records out (per statute or court order) then they don't need my signature. If they merely want to give the records out, they can ask me on a case-by-case basis.