Medical Records 101: Responding to Requests for Patient Information

Length: 91 minutes
Product ID: 385743EAU

 
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OnDemand Webinar:$199.00$119.40Register Now
TeleconferenceCredit
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Benefits

Register for this OnDemand Webinar and get an overview of medical management issues faced by health care providers in responding to requests for patient information for litigation purposes. The conference speaker, who has extensive experience in civil litigation, including the representation of large medical institutions, will provide guidance in avoiding mistakes in disseminating patient information. You'll find out what you need to know about the extent of patient information disclosure, people and parties authorized to receive patient health information, and anticipated issues with electronic and computerized patient information. You will learn about the legal authority for release of patient information, electronic record pitfalls (including potential corporate liability issues in medical malpractice cases), HIPAA and submission of patient health information to third parties, and heightened privacy protections for special medical information, including mental health, substance and child abuse records.


Agenda

Physician and Patient Privilege

  • Communications and Records Protected
  • Destruction of Privilege
  • IME and Court-Ordered Examinations

What Is a Record?

  • Chart
  • Post-Its
  • Other HCPs Records Within the Chart
  • Referrals and Consults
  • Lab Studies and Radiology Reports

Authority to Release Records to Third Parties

  • Legal Directive

- By Statute

- Courts

  • By Permission of the Patient

- Authorization

- By Attorney of the Patient

  • Waiver of Privilege

- Definition

- Medical Malpractice Cases

HIPAA and Patient Health Information Dissemination

  • Retrieval Fees Depend on Who Is Requesting
  • Unconditional Duty Irrespective of Medical Billing Issues
  • Disclosure Accounting
  • Medical Malpractice Discovery Requests

Special Records Issues

  • Psychiatric Records

- Gatekeeper Exception

- Court Order and Express Authorization

  • Substance Abuse
  • Child Abuse

- Duty to Protect Third-Party Informants

- Pictures and Photographs

  • AIDS and HIV

- Duty to Inform At-Risk People

  • Insurance Disclosures
  • How to Respond to Records Requests If Special Medical Information in Chart

Discovery of Peer Review Documents

  • Definition of Peer Review
  • People Conducting Peer Review
  • Documents Utilized in Peer Review
  • Documents Generated by Peer Review
  • Peer Review vs. Incident and Insurance Reports
  • Use and Purpose of Documents

E-Records

  • Benefits
  • Application of HIPAA and Disclosure Audit
  • Pitfalls

- Timing Issues and Metadata

- Prompts and Pop-Ups

- Training

- Sign-On Replacing Signatures

- Corrections

  • System Issues

- Viruses and Hackers

- Access Issues

- Disgruntled Workers

- Theft of Patient Information

  • Lawyers' Duty and Responsibility to Enforce Maintenance of Data in Wake of Zubulake v. Ubs Warburg
Faculty

Matthew P. Keris, Esq., Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin

Matthew P. Keris, Esq.
• With Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin
• Extensive experience in medical practice defense, having represented doctors, physician groups, hospitals and regional health centers for more than a decade
• Represented a number of physicians, medical groups and health care institutions in health care liability matters, and provided advice and guidance in quality assurance, personnel, privacy and health care records issues
• Served as a claims attorney with the commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Medical Professional Liability Catastrophe Loss Fund
• Lectures extensively, both locally and nationally, on issues pertaining to medical malpractice
• Spoken at numerous events for publications, including National Health Law Week, Hospital Litigation Reporter and New York Health Law Update
• Member of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute, the Council on Litigation Management, and the Lackawanna County and Pennsylvania Bar Associations
• Serves on the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Health Care Law Committee and is on the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute
• J.D. degree, Roger Williams University School of Law
• Contact him at 570-496-4600 or mpkeris@mdwcg.com