Reference no: EM133607492

Question: According to Washington State Legislature Links to an external site., the release of medical records by a health care provider requires the patient's disclosure. They may specify to the health care provider what part of the medical record they need and the health care provider may provide the information through paper or electronically. The disclosure must be signed and dated by the patient, and the said patient has to be identified and confirmed. What the information is and where it is going is also checked. For medical records to be disclosed, the patient needs to be the one authorizing this action unless specific conditions are met. For people with a close relationship to the patient, the person must be a close relative, a partner, or an identified close friend of the patient. The use of the information must be used for direct involvement with the patients health care or payment for health care. Health care providers can also disclose patient information without their authorization to other physicians or hospitals that they reasonably believe have cared for the patient before, in the case of an audit, or to law enforcement authorities. Health care providers can not disclose patient