tci Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement - 2008 Issue 3

HIPAA: Think A PHI Release Authorization Is Forever? Think Again

Here's how to make sure your authorization hasn't expired One year ago, your patient signed an authorization permitting the release of protected health information to his employer. Today, you receive a request from the employer asking for information regarding the patient's most recent office visit. Can the office release the information to the employer? "Absolutely not," says Betty Thompson, office manager at the Capital Medical Center in Olympia, WA. The patient's authorization has expired, because the signature is only good for information from the date of signing backward, not for future information, she says. In general, "The authorization...

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