Someone that has filed a personal injury claim should refrain from worrying about the chance that the insurance company might gain access to his or her medical records. That would only be possible if the claimant granted the insurance company such access. That is why lawyers tell their clients not to sign any documents, unless their attorney is present.
Does a patient have a right to view his or her own medical records?
Yes, the patient can view almost all of those records. However, there are certain sections of the recorded information that remain off-limits, even to the patient. For instance, the patient does not have the right to access any notes made by a psychotherapist. In addition, a doctor can withhold information that he feels might endanger the lives of others.
The final restriction on the patient’s accessibility to any information recorded by a physician relates to concerns of the legal community. Patients do not have a right to view any report that contains facts that are being used in a lawsuit.
Outside of the patient, who else can gain access to the medical records for a given patient?
A patient’s designated representative would have access to that information. That would include someone that had been granted a power of attorney. Sometimes an elderly or incapacitated man or woman grants a power of attorney to a trusted friend or relative.
A person’s legal guardian or representing Injury Lawyer in Milton can gain access to those records. A child that has lost both parents might have a legal guardian.
Sometimes the lawyers need information about someone that is deceased. In that case, those lawyers would need to seek the help of an estate’s representative. Such a representative gets granted that title before the granter has died.
Reassuring words for claimants
The list of those allowed access to a patient’s medical records is quite short. It does not include mention of any insurance company. Yet the restrictions do not state that patients lack the right to grant access to someone that is not on the original list.
If someone were to walk into a facility that held medical records and display a notarized paper, one that granted them access to a certain patient’s files, then the facility would feel compelled to honor that request.
Claimants should refrain from signing any document that might give an insurance company the right to access their private information. Facts recorded by a doctor ought to remain private, unless a patient has knowingly granted access to others.