Medical Assistant Prep / Unit 28 MAS 698 review, 2 to 3 minutes
A Request at the Front Desk
The idea
This case is constructed for this course. It shows how a medical assistant applies the privacy rule to an ordinary request from a family member.
In practice
A man comes to the front desk and says his wife had blood drawn yesterday. He asks for a copy of her results, because she is at work and asked him to pick them up. The medical assistant does not doubt that he is her husband, but being her husband does not by itself entitle him to her records. She checks the record. There is no written authorization on file for him to receive her health information, and the patient has not listed him as someone the practice may share information with. She explains politely that she cannot release the results without his wife's authorization. She offers two ways forward: his wife can call the practice to discuss the results, or she can sign an authorization naming him. She gives him the authorization form to take home. She does not confirm or describe anything about the results, including whether they are normal. Later that day, the patient calls and signs up for the patient portal to view her own results. She also asks for an authorization form so that her husband can help in the future. The medical assistant documents the interaction as the practice requires.
Where people slip
Courtesy and privacy are not in conflict here. She treated him respectfully and protected his wife's information at the same time. Saying "the results are fine" would itself have been a disclosure, however kind it sounded. Offering him a clear path, through his wife's call or a signed authorization, turned a refusal into help.
Your place on the trail
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