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Question about HIPPA and medical records - cll

Posted: Apr 15, 2011

My husband's father had a brain tumor many years ago (back when I first started dating him) and had surgery. Unfortunately, the surgeon never stopped the bleeding completely before closing him up and waited too long to take him back to the OR, so he remained in a coma for numerous months until he passed away. My husband's mother many years later also passed away. My husband is starting to have periods of extreme forgetfullness and completely not remembering something he did, more than usual. He is also dropping a lot of stuff and stumbling some (more than usual) and even my children who live with us (21 and 18 in May) have noticed this and my older son asked if I ever considered taking him to a neurologist. Of course with his family history of his dad having a brain tumor, I had and am concerned.

My question is, since his mom and dad are both deceased, would he be able to access his fathers records from the hospital that he had the surgery at since he is next of kin and this might be very important to his health. I want to know what type of tumor his father had, etc., so when I do convince him that he needs to go to the doctor's office, we will have this information. If he is not able to access this information, do you know if anyone could?

TIA for any suggestions or answers.

HIPPA - mttoday

[ In Reply To ..]
That's pretty tricky. But, the children of the deceased should have access to those records, especially if it could be helpful in diagnosing your husband. That's is something to definitely discuss with the doctor when you convince him to go.

Thanks, I appreciate your help and opinion. - cll

[ In Reply To ..]
x

Hope this helps. - JustMeeeeeeeee

[ In Reply To ..]
I asked my husband this questions as he is a HIPAA compliance manager for a medical facility in PA. He stated your best bet is to go to the Medical Records dept where the records are and they will be able to help you. He stated next of kin should be able to have access to their records as long as there is not a record stating you can't. He also said power of attorney, if the parents had one, would be able to access them. Hope this helps.

Thanks - cll

[ In Reply To ..]
I will see if he is willing to go with me to the hospital. There is no power of attorney, but appreciate the info and tell your husband thanks for the info!

Unfortunately.... - MTinFL

[ In Reply To ..]
I just completed my HIPAA compliance training for my Office Manager job (by day; MT by night) and unfortunately, providers are only required to keep medical records of the deceased for two years. Medical records of other patients are only required to be kept for seven.

Hope you get lucky and your in-laws records slipped through the cracks and were kept for seven!

By kept, I mean that the doctors have the right to shred them. Maybe you'll also get lucky and it was transferred to EMR before they were destroyed!

You can go to the AMA and go to the HIPAA - section, then FAQ

[ In Reply To ..]
HIPAA applies the same for a deceased person as a living person basically unless it is needed for diagnosing purposes it can be released to another healthcare provider, or it can be released to whomever is over the estate.

So, your husband's doctor could probably access them if they are needed to diagnose him.

Thoughts - RHIA

[ In Reply To ..]
It appears that this happened so long ago that the records would be archived and possibly even destroyed by now. Hospitals do not keep records forever, especially if the patient dies.

You might try checking the death certificate. If the brain tumor was the cause of death, it might be on it.

I would not go to a lot of effort for this right now. Take your husband to a neurologist, tell the neurologist about the brain tumor, and let him tell you if he needs the records. If he really does, his office can assist you.

This information might be nice to know, but I do not think it is going to make a significant difference in your husband's care. Just knowing that there was a brain tumor is a lot more information than most people have. Neurologists still manage to make diagnoses without it.

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