Subpoenas Duces Tecum vs. HIPAA: Which Wins?

When there is a lawsuit, subpoenas can be issued to get medical information. The rules of how to do this are outlined in the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. These rules are similar in many other states as well. The subpoena has to be served to the person or organization that has the information. It cannot be sent by mail. After it’s served, proof of service has to be filed with the court. A subpoena duces tecum can be used to get someone to produce documents for a court case. If the subpoena is unreasonable or too vague, a person can ask the court to cancel it. HIPAA was enacted to improve health insurance and prevent fraud and abuse in healthcare. The privacy regulations in the HIPAA law were created to give patients better access to their own health information while also making sure it doesn’t get misused. The rules set a minimum level of privacy that all health care providers have to follow, but states can make their own stricter rules if they want to. The goal is to make sure patients feel comfortable sharing their information with their doctors. In Florida, a patient’s medical records and information can’t be shared with anyone without their written permission. However, there are exceptions, such as in a court case where a subpoena is issued for the records. In a medical malpractice case, the patient’s medical information can be obtained from the doctor or with the patient’s consent, or through a subpoena with proper notice to the patient. In the case of Lemieux v. Tandem Healthcare of Florida, the court discussed whether federal or Florida state laws should control the disclosure of private health information. The court decided that while the procedural rules in HIPAA are stricter, Florida’s laws are actually more protective of privacy and should control in this situation. So, in this case, Florida’s laws on protecting health information are more important than the federal HIPAA laws. In Florida, there are rules about when medical records can be shared in a lawsuit. The person seeking the records must follow certain steps to get them. They can use a subpoena, which is a legal order to bring the records to court. There are different types of subpoenas, depending on whether the person has to come to court or can just send the records. If the procedural requirements are followed, the person sharing the records is protected from getting in trouble for breaking privacy laws. If someone wants to get medical records from someone who isn’t part of a lawsuit, they have to tell everyone involved in the case. They have to give a heads up at least 10 days before they officially ask for the records. This gives the person whose records are being asked for a chance to say they don’t want them released. If they object within 10 days, the records can’t be released unless a judge says so. But if no one objects, the records can be requested. This process follows the rules of the state of Florida and the federal law HIPAA, which protects medical privacy. If someone asks for your medical records, you can still say no even if they have a legal right to ask. If you do say no, they might ask a judge to make you give them the records, and you could get in trouble if you still refuse. You might also have to pay their legal fees. If someone has protected health information and is given a legal order to hand it over, they have to follow it or they could be in trouble and have to pay for lawyers’ fees. Outside of court cases, there are strict rules about sharing health information with other businesses. If a business needs access to this information, they have to sign a special agreement to keep it safe. And when the agreement ends, they have to either give back the information or make sure it’s protected. HIPAA rules require that personal health information (PHI) be kept private. Some courts are starting to make similar rules in their own orders, such as requiring PHI to be returned or destroyed after a case is over, and for any PHI filed with the court to be kept confidential. These extra rules may not be practical and could break Florida state laws. In some court cases, it’s not always possible for an attorney to guarantee that all private medical information will be kept confidential. For example, if a lawyer shares medical records with an expert witness, they can’t control what the expert does with that information. Also, if a deposition includes medical records and is given to other attorneys, the lawyer can’t guarantee that those records will stay private. This is because in American justice, court proceedings are usually open to the public, unless there’s a very good reason to keep them private. So, it’s not always possible for a lawyer to guarantee the confidentiality of medical information in a court case. Basically, all information filed with the court has to be made public unless there’s a really good reason to keep it private. This is because trials and court proceedings are usually open to the public. Trying to keep all personal health information secret would make things really difficult for the court system and for getting a fair trial. It would also make it hard for reporters to cover trials and for appeals to be prepared. When someone files a lawsuit and makes their medical condition an issue, they give up their privacy rights. This means their medical information can be shared as part of the lawsuit. If a subpoena is issued, the person or organization holding the medical information has to give it to the court. This is because the lawsuit is considered a public matter. The legal rules surrounding this issue make it clear that the medical information should be shared in response to a subpoena. In a trial, if a party or nonparty needs to share private health information, they have to follow certain rules. But once a lawsuit is filed, the private health info becomes public and doesn’t need special privacy rules. So it doesn’t make sense for lawyers to try to keep it private after that.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/subpoenas-duces-tecum-vs-hipaa-which-wins/