Brigham and Women's Hospital is committed to providing patients with high quality health care and to forming relationships that are built on trust. That means respecting patient privacy and confidentiality of medical information. We protect patients' privacy and confidentiality rights through policies and procedures that allow access to personal and medical information only for legitimate purposes that support treatment, payment, and health care operations. Our policies and procedures are in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which became effective on April 14, 2003.
We must have written authorization from you to release information to your health insurance plan in order to process your claims, or to a specialist to whom you have been referred who needs background information on your condition. These policies conform to state and federal law and are designed to safeguard your privacy. For more information on getting a medical release, please contact Medical Records at (617) 732-6060 or (617) 732-6071.
In addition, certain patient information is further restricted by law, such as communications between a patient and psychotherapist, sexually transmitted disease test results or visit notes, HIV test results, substance abuse rehabilitation treatment records and sexual assault treatment records. Please note, however, that the law requires some of this information to be disclosed in certain circumstances, such as when child or elder abuse may be involved.
A breach of confidentiality or the failure to protect confidential patient information from accidental or unauthorized access results in strict penalties for staff. If you have questions about the privacy of your medical records, please speak with your doctor or a member of his or her office staff.
