Know What You Owe: HIPAA and Third-Party Requests for Patient Records in Hospice

And so we're talking today about HIPAA and I've done this kind of work for a long time, and it seems several times a year we get clients calling us because they got a subpoena.

A family member of a patient or representative said they want medical records.

Maybe those requests come in writing.

Maybe they come in over the phone.

Maybe there's no connection between the requester.

Sometimes it might be an attorney making those requests.

So we field those from time to time.

Like I said, several times throughout the year.

And we thought, let's share our collective experience and how to address these.

so that people kind of know what's coming.

So let's start with the reality check, Taylor.

How often are hospices being pulled into litigation or investigations involving their patients that might give rise to a request for medical records?

Yeah, I mean, you kind of previewed it, Brian.

It's more often than people might expect.

Anytime a hospice provider receives a third-party request or subpoena for protected health information, the organization has to think about both HIPAA compliance and potential litigation risks.

And like you said, there's several different buckets that we often see these requests.

The ones that are most often, I would say, are civil litigation from families.

So estate disputes, malpractice claims, wrongful death claims.

And so that can involve civil litigation from the family to trying to pursue litigation against the hospice.

But more often, we see these kind of requests come up in relation to litigation of other providers that are maybe tangential to the hospice care that was provided.

And then also just helping with that actual probate administration.

Oftentimes, we see personal representatives requesting records to help with their duties as the personal representative or ultimately the executor of the estate.

So I'd say that's where the bulk of these records requests are coming.

And those come really frequently.

As a hospice provider, I think it's especially frequent because, you know, hospices are for patients who are dying.