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Originally Posted by emmykb

Forgive me if I am wrong but I do believe it is a HIPAA violation to re-distribute medical records obtained from physicians/hospitals/etc. So, if DCF re-released protected health information your doctors sent them, you may have a case.

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Can you cite anything to back that up? HIPAA applies to only "covered entitites. The only way DCF would qualify as a covered entity is if they paying for the coverage.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

Can you cite anything to back that up? HIPAA applies to only "covered entitites. the only way DCF would qualify as a covered entity is if they paying for the coverage.

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Not necessarily true.

DCF could fall under the clearinghouse rule "This includes entities that process nonstandard health information they receive from another entity into a standard (i.e., standard electronic format or data content), or vice versa." I'm certain they store their information via electronic record as that is pretty much mandated by now.

After doing a quick Google search it appears as though DCF must abide by HIPAA rules and their employees must complete mandatory training. However, it's Google and you can't believe everything you read.

Either way, divulged information of this nature is a violation of privacy be it on a Federal level or not. I would encourage OP to pursue this. It is a personal safety issue.

Whether they have to follow HIPAA they do have their own confidentiality rules and I do not see how they can justify giving the father the mothers personal medical records.

Is her medical records evidence? Evidence of what?
Wouldn't it have to first be proven that her medical directly effects the custody case.

She is not referring to her kids medical records but hers.

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Originally Posted by N0help4u

whether or not they have to follow HIPAA they do have their own confidentiality rules and I do not see how they can justify giving the father the mothers personal medical records.

is her medical records evidence? Evidence of what??
Wouldn't it have to first be proven that her medical directly effects the custody case.

She is not refering to her kids medical records but hers.

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I agree with you.

I also got to thinking... you know how they always have you sign a multitude of paperwork, do you think OP signed something allowing disclosure unknowlingly? Did she provide them an authorization to obtain her medical records from her doctor or did she give it to them? Either way, under HIPAA or not, without written consent this information cannot be divuldged.

This is absolutely a violation of the mother's PHI and is a direct threat to her personal safety, given the nature of the relationship between her and her ex. I could urge to to pursue this.

I dpn't see why they would have her sign a release for the dad for any legal reason. For their own sneaky agenda they probably would.

No DCF would not fall under the Clearinghouse entity. A Clearinghouse entity is a service provided to care providers to convert records into electronic format. This entity covers medical transcribers. DCF does not fall into that category.

DCF was, apparently, given the info, either by subpoena or permission because it was necessary to develop a case plan because of the allegations made. Whether DCF overstepped their bounds and rules by providing the info to the other party is definitely under question. But it would be a very large stretch to consider this a HIPAA violation.