Fee Exemption – HIPAA Release Form

Listen to this article

WI Supreme Court

Case Name: Carolyn Moya v. Aurora Healthcare, Inc, et al

Case No.: 2017 WI 45

Focus: Fee Exemption – HIPAA Release Form

Today, we are asked to interpret the meaning of the phrase “person authorized by the patient” in Wis. Stat. § 146.83(3f)(b)4.-5. (2013-14),  which exempts a “patient or a person authorized by the patient” from paying certification charges and retrieval fees for obtaining copies of the patient’s health care records. More particularly, we are asked to determine whether an attorney whose client authorized him via a HIPAA release form to obtain her health care records may benefit from this fee exemption. Because the phrase “person authorized by the patient” is defined in Wis. Stat. § 146.81(5) to include “any person authorized in writing by the patient,” we hold that an attorney authorized by his or her client in writing via a HIPAA release form to obtain the client’s health care records is a “person authorized by the patient” under Wis. Stat. § 146.83(3f)(b)4.-5. and is therefore exempt from certification charges and retrieval fees under these subdivisions. Consequently, the decision of the court of appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Reversed and Remanded

Concur:

Dissent: Ziegler

Full Text

Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.