Pending Amendments to Public Health Law Expand Access But Fall Short
Trial attorney Alan Clark discusses the HIPAA privacy right to access and pending amendments to section 18 which expand the right to access but, in the author's view, do not adequately address these deficiencies and other provisions which appear to be in violation of federal regulations established under HIPAA, HITECH, and the 21st Century Cures Act.
November 15, 2023 at 10:00 AM
22 minute read
There are several pending amendments to Public Health Law (PHL) Section 18 which will expand access to patient information and medical records. However, these welcome changes fail to address some of the major deficiencies and criticisms of this outdated statute which appear to contradict and violate federal regulations and guidance under HIPAA, HITECH, and the 21st Century Cures Act.
These include the maximum .75 per page copy charge for paper copies failure to address requests for electronic health records, excepting all examinations and treatments by other medical providers in the requested provider's records, and failure to specify reasonable time to respond to requests for copies of records. Further changes are called for to remedy these shortfalls.
Access to an individual's medical records in New York is governed by section 18 of the Public Health Law ( (Public Health Law § 18 (Consol., Lexis Advance through 2023 released Chapters 1-521)). This statute became effective January 1, 1987 and various amendments over the years include the 1991 amendments allowing maximum .75 per page copy cost for paper copies. See (Boltja v Southside Hosp., 186 AD2d 774 [2d Dept 1992]).
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