Medical Charts and collection agencies

Hi,
Great board here. I was wondering if anybody has any input on the laws pertaining to collection agencies having your medical records in hand. The situation is this: I sent in a validation request to A**hole collection agency on a $134.00 bill. The collection account was for a doctors visit years ago, that my insurance company failed to pay. I asked them (CA) for proof that the debt was mine. The collection agency responed by sending me 12 pages of medical transcrips. These transcrips had test results from when I was 9 years old up to the last vist. I got them to remove the debt from my credit report once I paid them. I know there is some kind of privatcy issue here right? I am the kind of person who would sue over 1$ if I thought it would provent someone from being cheated out of a $1 in the future. I just can't find any law on this. help.

Thanks,

Jerabathga

The question is whether the collector is the agent of the doctor, and if they have NOT purchased the debt and are collecting FOR them, this may be legit.

This is a difficult question because if doctors can't collect on outstanding bills due to privacy laws, they'd have to get advance payment from everybody and we wouldn't like that either.

On the other hand, nobody wants their medical records floating all over the country.

I really don't know.

I'm in healthcare and releasing medical info without signing a consent form is very illegal. I have never heard of a CA having access to a medical chart.
If indeed this is a outside CA I would sue the s**t out of them including MD that released your very private information.

Thank you very much for the information, Please let me know if you stumble across any URL'S to case law or state law about this issue. I have been looking but can't find it. I did find out that in April 2003 a new law goes into effect about releasing medical records to the media. So in 2003 we won't know why our favorite football player is siting on the side lines.

Thanks
Jerabathga





Originally posted by leviathan
I'm in healthcare and releasing medical info without signing a consent form is very illegal. I have never heard of a CA having access to a medical chart.
If indeed this is a outside CA I would sue the s**t out of them including MD that released your very private information.

Although this won't help your current situation, anyone with questions regarding *future* confidentiality issues surrounding their medical records should be aware of HIPPA...

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2002/07/29/focus5.html

HIPPA requires that all protected patient information be safeguarded in specific ways to prevent accidental or purposeful disclosure, loss or misuse. Covered entities must establish security practices to ensure that only authorized persons have access to protected information, wherever it exists. ... Complying with all these issues is certainly a tall order, but the government is serious about compliance. Penalties for HIPPA violations include civil penalties of $100 per incident, up to $25,000 per person, per year. There are also criminal penalties for health plans, providers and clearinghouses that intentionally disclose information under false pretenses.

I, for one, am anxious to see how HIPPA will affect medical collections once we reach the deadline for compliance in April.