Massachusetts Law About Medical Privacy
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HHS Office for Civil Rights: HIPAA. Site links to just about every important document related to HIPAA standards for protection of the privacy of medical information, including laws, regulations, information for consumers and providers, and fact sheets on a variety of related topics.
Massachusetts Laws
- MGL c.111, s.70 Copies of Medical Records; Fees
- MGL c.111, s.70E Patients' Rights Law
- MGL c.111, s.70F HIV Testing
- MGL c.112, s.12CC Inspection of Records by Patient or Representative
- MGL c.112, s.172A Mental Health Client Confidentiality
- MGL c.123, s.36 Mental Health Records
- MGL c.149, s.19A Copies of Reports of Employer-Required Physical Exams
Massachusetts Regulations
- 105 CMR 300 Reportable Diseases
- 243 CMR 2.07(13) Requirement to Make Available Records, Permissible Fees
Federal Law
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), P.L. 104-191. The law creating strict guidelines for medical record confidentiality.
Federal Regulations
- 45 CFR 160 General Administrative Requirements
- 45 CFR 162 Administrative Requirements
- 45 CFR 164 Security and Privacy "The Privacy Rule"
Other Web Sources
Health Care Personal Representatives, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) includes a number of provisions to safeguard a patient's privacy. Yet "there may be times when individuals are legally or otherwise incapable of exercising their rights, or simply choose to designate another to act on their behalf with respect to these rights." "..a covered entity must treat a personal representative as the individual for the purposes of the privacy rule".
HIV Reporting in Massachusetts for Consumers, Mass. Department of Public Health. Beginning in January 2007, all cases of HIV infection will be reported by name, rather than by code. This is to bring the state in line with federal requirements.
Your Medical Record Rights in Massachusetts: A Guide to Consumer Rights Under HIPAA, Joy Pitts, Health Policy Institute, Georgetown University, 2005. Includes an overview of the law, getting your medical record, correcting your medical record, and filing complaints.
Your Medical Records and Your Privacy: A Guide for Massachusetts Consumers, Health Law Advocates, November 2003. Includes personal representatives, other disclosures, getting a copy of your records and more.
Print Sources
Computerized Medical Records in Massachusetts: The New HIPAA Security Rule and Other Important Changes, by William M. Mandell, MCLE, 2005.
Confidentiality of Medical Records in Massachusetts, by Leigh-Ann Patterson Durant, Lorman Education Services, 2006.
Guide to Medical Privacy and HIPAA, by D'Arcy Guerin Gue, Thompson Pub. Group, loose-leaf.
HIPAA: A Practical Guide to the Privacy and Security of Health Data, by Jane Sullivan, American Bar Association, 2004.
Medical Records Law, Lorman Education Services, 2008.
Medical Records Privacy Under HIPAA, by N. Peter Lareau, LexisNexis Matthew Bender, loose-leaf.
Medicolegal Guide to Health Record Information, Massachusetts Health Information Management Association, 2005.
What Estate Planners Need to Know about HIPAA: Gain a Working Understanding of the Federal Privacy Rules, by Robert J. Morrill, MCLE, 2004.