But it's MY medical information

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · May 14, 2008

I took a sick child of mine to the Dr and lab work was ordered, Dr called me later that night to tell me "labs were just a bit off" etc etc etc, and I never did ask him well what was off and in what direction? Child was getting tested for Mono. Mono test was negative--that was my main concern .

So I work the next night and I call down to lab and ask if they can fax me up Buddys labs, and I was told no, it must come from the Dr, I asked well can I run down and sign and just pick them up and was once again told No, it must come from the Dr.

Now I could have accessed it via our computer system, but since my son was NOT my pt, I was not going to risk getting in trouble just for my own curiosity of "labs were just a bit off"...I never did find out what "off" meant. It is odd though, as I have picked up x-rays from our hosp of my husbands to take over to a specialist office and all i had to do was sign the release and in the folder with the x-rays was the Drs dictation.

confused101 · May 14, 2008

yeah, what gives! If it is your or your childs info you have the right to know. Like it is this super secret thing or something. After a long night this is one of my top pet peaves! :)

BaByMaMa · May 14, 2008

So I can insist on it until they give it to me?

I think this is ridiculous. They paid for it, but it was my blood.

Can they LEGALLY withold this kind of information?

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · May 14, 2008

Playing devils advocate here...ok say the labs showed my childs WBC was say in the leukemia range or something crazy, and hypothetically speaking here say Dr had not spoke to me yet and I call down and get childs labs and see these numbers and freak out.

I guess the logic is let the Dr interpret the labs to you, so you dont panic and not know all the facts.

I thought it was silly too, but since Doc told me labs were just a bit off, child was sick and dehydrated--I am guessing they were not totally normal.

I was more interested in the mono screen and since doc told me that was negative, that was my main concern, the little bit off comment just peaked my curiosity as to what was off. I am guessing maybe K was a hair low, who knows...

BACK to original question I think all you have to do is call your Dr and have them get copy of labs and either mail them to you or fax them to you.

BaByMaMa · May 14, 2008

My situation is kind of different because there is no doctor involved. This was a titer that a job agency required in order for me to start a contract, and now they say I cannot have a copy of it because they paid for it.

I just want to know if they can legally do this.

Thanks for all your input!! :)

lorilou22RN · May 14, 2008

Several years ago my daughter was eval'ed in the ER (I worked at this hospital). After several hours (10) she was transfered to a local childrens hospital to be seen for a potential acute belly. Well she was taken to surgery at midnite for an appy. Anyhow, I was a bit peeved that this had taken so long to realize that my facility couldn't treat her (no peds), and it took even longer for them to arrange transfer. It was actually kind of a mess getting her CT scans etc. (and I worked there!!!). I was very upset with how the entire situation had been handled and did write a letter to the DON, as well as the Medical Director regarding her care. I DID print up all her labwork, and her CT results to include in my letter. I did not get in trouble for accessing her information, because I was the contact to allow release of info. What were they going to do? Have me sign a Release of info to release to me? You should be allowed to access your childs labs, xrays etc. without repercussions from HIPPAA.....just my :twocents:

czyja, MSN, RN · May 14, 2008

You should be allowed to access your childs labs, xrays etc. without repercussions from HIPPAA.....just my

I disagree. It would be ethically problematic to have a two-tier information access policy, one for employees and one for non-employees. An employee should get copies of their medical records and their children's medical records the same way everybody else does - by requesting them. Of course if non-employees could log into a computer system and look at their chart or their kids chart then employees should be able to do the same. The issue in this case in not privacy, rather it is one of equal access and sound clinical policy.

As to the OP - your access to this record falls under state law. HIPAA (federal law) give you access to your healthcare records. I drug screen, anti-body titer, standardized psych test (MMPI etc) used within the context of employment screening are not healthcare records - they are employment records. NB - I don't agree with this and I do not think this is just, but this is the way our system is set up.

BrnEyedGirl, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN · May 14, 2008

I am not allowed to access any records but my own. I waited all weekend to get strep screen results for my sick daughter once,..the docs office did the screen on thursday afternoon,..the office closed at noon on friday. It was Monday before I was able to speak with them again. Very frustrating,.but I know people who have been fired for looking at results for family members!

Editorial Team / Admin · May 14, 2008

if it's a clia lab:

"regulations promulgated under the clinical laboratory improvement amendments of 1988 (clia) require that clinical laboratories disclose test results only to "authorized persons" (individuals authorized
under state law to order tests or receive test results, or both), and, if applicable, the individual responsible for using the test results and the laboratory that initially requested the test.
most states require that clinical laboratories disclose test results only to the ordering physician or his designee. if a state law does not define the term, clia defines "authorized person" as the person who orders the test. as a result, despite generally permissive provisions in the hipaa privacy rule, most state laws prohibit clinical laboratories from disclosing test results to anyone other than the ordering physician or his designee."

find the above here with links to clia: http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:czwi94mvl-sj:www.hhs.gov/healthit/ahic/materials/meeting04/ehr/ehrdraftrecs.doc+laboratory+releases+lab+results+only+to+physician&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=4

tntrn, ASN, RN · May 14, 2008

In some cases, such as if you apply for life insurance, the lab result information belongs to the insurance company. When and how they tell you the results is their decision. That's how we found out my husband had prostate cancer: BUT it took a lot of talking to get the results quickly from them AND luckily we were dealing with a company that allows its underwriters to talk directly to clients. Not all of them do. It's not right and I'm still angrier over that than him having cancer. And as a footnote, he had his prostate removed a month exactly after we got the results: it was an aggressive advanced cancer, but they feel they got it all. He starts radiation as a back up in about 10 days.

TiredMD · May 15, 2008

When I asked about this at my institution, I was basically told that only medical records is properly trained in verifying the identity of the person asking, confirming that they have the right to access the information, and are familiar in the procedures for copying and handing over the records.

In short, if you were at my hospital, you would have every right to access your lab values, but you would have to do it through the medical records department. I would imagine in a private clinic that you could obtain a copy of your lab work from the office manager for that physician.

It's annoying, but I'm kind of okay with it. I don't want a lab tech handing out info on my family to any joker who asks; I want the records people responsible for this, since they deal with it every day.