GOVERNMENTTexas open records law sparks HIPAA lawsuitA ruling that the privacy law applies would ensure protection of patient data but might make it harder to get statistics for research.By Tanya Albert, amednews staff. June 20, 2005. Texas courts will be the first to answer this question: Does a state open records law trump HIPAA? A Texas trial court said the state law that ensures public access to government records doesn't supersede the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act provisions that assure medical records privacy. Now the case is in the hands of the Texas Court of Appeals in Austin, where separate divisions of the Texas Attorney General's Office in May presented oral arguments of both the office's opinion and the state's mental health agency. The case revolves around a news organization's request for five years of statistics related to sexual assault allegations and investigations at each state hospital and Texas Dept. of Mental Health and Mental Retardation facility. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott argued that HIPAA didn't apply. On the other side of the debate, MHMR said the act is applicable and, therefore, the agency could only release statewide numbers that weren't specific to individual facilities. The Texas Medical Assn. has not weighed in on the case. Health care lawyers say doctors are split on how they want to see the court rule. If the lower court ruling stands, "and doctors disclose information to the Texas Dept. of Health, it could go out to the public," said Cheryl Camin, a lawyer on the health care practice team at Gardere Wynne Sewell in Dallas. "But on the flip side, if they are researchers, they would have better access to information." Lawyers defending the attorney general's opinion would not comment on the pending litigation. In court documents, though, they argue that the state Public Information Act prevents a government agency from disclosing protected health information but requires that unprotected health information be released when a state governmental body collects, assembles or maintains the information. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2005 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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The doctors are in the house
The AMA's House of Delegates is holding its Interim Meeting Nov. 7-10 in Houston, addressing issues such as health system reform and physician payment. Meeting coverage - Slideshow Feature articlesHealth reform review The Massachusetts experience Litigation stress Being sued is personal as well as professional Comprehensive coverage
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