Release of behavioral health, developmental disabilities, HIV, and substance abuse information: guidelines for legal compliance.

ospitals, physician practices, and other health care facilities are repositories for much medical information. Safeguarding the confidentiality of such information is a significant issue for any hospital or other health care entity that keeps patient medical records to maintain patient confidence and to avoid liability. Because damages could ensue should inappropriate disclosure occur, patient records containing behavioral health, developmental disabilities, HIV, and substance abuse information must be handled with special attention, in accordance with state and federal laws, rules, and regulations. Individuals involved in health information management should be well-informed about patient confidentiality requirements overall and should also track these areas carefully to develop and implement appropriate policies and procedures governing the release of patient information. The purpose of this paper is to provide such individuals with an overview of the applicable state and federal rules and regulations for these highly protected areas to assist in policy and procedure. While federal laws are consistent for all states, individual state rules and regulations do vary to some extent. For this overview, we have included relevant federal laws and focused on state laws for Illinois. Although Illinois laws on medical information will have commonalties with other states’ laws, and should therefore be helpful in an overview, health care providers should be aware of the particular legal requirements of their respective states.