The Authorization to Release Medical Information Form: Its Genesis and Usage

• Publication year: 1982
• Pages: 1179

11 Colo.Law. 1179 Colorado Lawyer 1982.

1982, May, Pg. 1179. The Authorization to Release Medical Information Form: Its Genesis and Usage

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Vol. 11, No. 5, Pg. 1179

The Authorization to Release Medical Information Form: Its Genesis and Usage

by Paul D. Cooper and Bennett S. Aisenberg

In 1980 Colorado Bar Association Interprofessional Committee Chairman, Bennett S. Aisenberg, appointed a subcommittee to work with a similar subcommittee of Colorado's Certified Medical Record Administrators ("CMRAs") on the development of a standardized form to be used in Colorado to authorize the release of medical information for use in connection with legitimate needs of the justice system for access to that information.(fn1) The purpose of this article is to chronicle the history of the project, the surprising situations giving rise to the need for the project, and to describe the contents and usage of the form as it was approved by the CBA Board of Governors at its August 1981 meeting in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

The Need for a New Form

In response to an annual inquiry from the Denver Bar Association's Interprofessional Committee, the CMRAs indicated that they would like to discuss problems they were encountering with lawyers needing medical information. A series of meetings was held between the CBA and CMRA subcommittees and a number of problems identified.

The lawyers were frustrated by difficulties they were encountering in obtaining medical information in the wake of the investigation of Factual Services Bureau ("FSB") by the Denver District Attorney's Office. It was learned that FSB had been obtaining medical information without the knowledge or consent of the patient, and supplying it to insurance companies and attorneys defending claims by the patients. Health care facilities had responded to the adverse publicity about their laxness in handling medical information by tightening their procedures. While many of these procedures improved the handling of the information, some constituted unnecessary hurdles to the attorneys obtaining information necessary to the litigation process.

Among these hurdles was the fact that each hospital seemed to have or want a different form for the release of medical information. Some demanded that the patient's signature be affixed to an authorization within thirty days of presentation to the health care facility. Others demanded that the form be notarized. Some said the form had to comply with the new Federal Privacy Act(fn2) and some refused requests until the treating physician gave his approval to the release.

The CMRAs also complained about getting repeated requests for the same records, not being paid for the information

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provided, not understanding why original records were needed in some cases, and not being told of the termination of a lawsuit and having to hire attorneys to file motions to recover their records. They told stories of verbal and even physical abuse at the hands of frustrated litigants or attorneys being denied access to medical information because of noncompliance with the health care facility's policies about releasing the information. They complained of an increase in being subpoenaed to lawyers' offices for depositions where they were caught between two attorneys, one claiming a right to the records and the other threatening to sue if they were turned over. In other cases, it was reported that unauthorized persons wrongfully claimed to have authority to get medical information or misrepresented their identity to obtain it

Clearly, a need existed for dialogue between the two professions and for responsible action toward alleviating the problems of both professions. Further meetings were held, research was undertaken and efforts were made to accomplish the following goals:

1. Develop a form for authorization to release medical information that would be accepted in the majority, if not all, of the health care facilities in the state. The form should insure compliance with the requirements of federal and state law in order to release information. It should also protect legitimate needs of health care facilities while expediting and simplifying procedures for disclosing information to which litigants are entitled.

2. Obtain adoption of a rule of court providing for the Court Clerk to be authorized automatically to return original records to health care facilities in exchange for copies upon conclusion of the jury's need for originals...