It is important to note that the release of medical information to law enforcement is established in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. The HIPAA Privacy Rule “requires appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy of protected health information and sets limits and conditions on the uses and disclosures that may be made of such information without an individual’s authorization” (Department of Health and Human Services, 2022, para. 1).
The level of government involvement is executive with the key regulatory agency being The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In other words, HHS oversees HIPAA’s enforcement and adherence, and it is the one to decide whether or not the covered entities justifiably release medical information to law enforcement.
The HIPAA Privacy Rule massively impacted the healthcare sector and provided an impetus for quality reform to set the limits appropriately. Firstly, the information can be released if there is a threat of public health emergency or bioterrorism. Secondly, covered entities can do so if the release can reasonably lessen, minimize, or even prevent an imminent and serious threat to public safety and health in the context of bioterrorism.
Thirdly, medical information can be released under the conditions of emergency, implicating administrative and judicial proceedings, intelligence and national security activities, and law enforcement activities. When it comes to the quality reforms, they took place fragmentally with an introduction of 45 CFR 164.512(k)(2), 45 CFR 164.512(e), 45 CFR 164.512(f), or 45 CFR 164.512(j). It should be noted that each of them added a circumstance for the medical information release since the types and forms of threats are changing, requiring new adjustments within the regulation.
Reference
Department of Health and Human Services. (2022). The HIPAA Privacy Rule. Web.