Question

SCENARIO #2

On Tuesday you receive a call from a lawyer requesting medical records to be sent to his office on your patient Mr. Todd Waters. Your receptionist honors his request by sending the records. On Friday you receive a call from Mr. Waters screaming in your ear that you sent the records to a lawyer that was not on his side (patient is plaintiff vs. defendant) without his permission to do so. Mr. Waters states that you have violated his trust and confidentiality, ruined his case, and he is now going to sue the physician.

Question 1: Should the receptionist have sent the records.    Please circle:   Yes    or     No

Question 2: How should the receptionist have handled the initial phone call from the lawyer’s office?

Answer 1

Question 1

No , The receptionist should not sent the records without the patients consent .

Question 2

Confidentiality is the basic right of every patient. Which has to be maintained by the hospital and it's members .

No outsources should be allowed to view the patient case records except the attending doctor . So the receptionist should have informed the lawyer about the confidentiality issue and decline direct access to the records.

To access the medical records they may need the patients consent or a notice from the court .

The receptionist should have waited to discuss the matter with the doctor and taken his opinion.