Posted by HisHughness on 9/6/13 9:30am
Msg #483415

Are notaries authorized to mail medical records ...

... when they notarize medical affidavits? Is it a breach of confidentiality for the medical practitioner to surrender records to the notary, who is not employed by the medical office nor directly employed by the attorney seeking the records? If the notary is contracted by the attorney directly, rather than being hired by a records-gathering company, does that change the equation?

Reply by Les_CO on 9/6/13 9:42am
Msg #483419

I think it’s sort of like the job of a NSA, we act as a witness to the signing of the documents (notary), and as a ‘courier’ when mailing/or delivering those documents. I see no breach of duty in either case….but that’s just a lay opinion.

Reply by ME/NJ on 9/6/13 9:47am
Msg #483420

I have only done a hand full of these in 10 years and each one I was hired by a attorney to retrieve them and the office was made aware I was coming. I have not done one of these type jobs for about 3 years. Maybe because of what you posted this type of work has dried up in my area. Plus with tech most records are stored electronic now.

Reply by Pam/NM on 9/6/13 9:52am
Msg #483423

HIPAA consents and authorizations will cover

this, more than likely, but it depends on the verbiage. I work at a hospital full time and it's a hot button topic. See this: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/coveredentities/index.html

Reply by ikando on 9/6/13 11:57am
Msg #483451

Re: HIPAA consents and authorizations will cover

In my experience, the documents I am requested to courier are financial, I.e., billing statements. Most times the HIPAA records have been transmitted to the requester by other means.

Reply by Karla/OR on 9/6/13 11:56am
Msg #483450

My own experience has been that the records people at our local hospital can't release the medical records to me because of HIPPA rules and regs. So the records people do their own mailing of the records and I return the signed affidavits to the SS that hired me.