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(Florida)
In general, a records
owner may not furnish a patient's medical
records to, or discuss the medical condition of a patient
with, any person other than the patient or the patient's legal
representative, or other health care practitioners and providers
involved in the care or treatment of the patient, except upon
written authorization
of the patient.
Strictly speaking,
the limitations on records owners do not apply to hospitals
and ambulatory surgical centers, which are regulated separately
(under chapter 395). However, statutory language there provides
similar limitations on disclosure absent "consent."
(see 395.025).
Unfortunately,
neither of these chapters contains any provision on "fundraising"
per se. The only language that comes close is in regard to
"solicitation," where both statutory chapters say:
"Absent a specific written release or authorization permitting
utilization of patient information for solicitation or marketing
the sale of goods or services, any use of that information
for those purposes is prohibited."
No definition of
solicitation is offered in the immediate vicinity; in many
other parts of the statutes, however, it is used as a generic
term for all manner of marketing or sales activities. So in
the passage above, given the absence of punctuation marks,
it could be understood simply as a redundant term for marketing.
However, the statutory chapter on solicitation of funds by
charitable organizations offers this very clear definition:
"'Solicitation'
means a request, directly or indirectly, for money, property,
financial assistance, or any other thing of value on the
plea or representation that such money, property, financial
assistance, or other thing of value or a portion of it will
be used for a charitable or sponsor purpose or will benefit
a charitable organization or sponsor." (496.404)
So, strictly imported,
this prohibition would be more stringent than the fundraising
provisions of HIPAA (which allows "demographic"
information use without authorization), and so would not be
preempted. However, it appears that few if any Florida health
facilities have ever taken such a strict interpretation, so
HIPAA's provisions would control.
See also:
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