Iowa Code 228.8 – Disclosures to family members
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1. A mental health professional or an employee of or agent for a mental health facility may disclose mental health information to the spouse, parent, adult child, or adult sibling of an individual who has chronic mental illness, if all of the following conditions are met:
a. The disclosure is necessary to assist in the provision of care or monitoring of the individual’s treatment.
b. The spouse, parent, adult child, or adult sibling is directly involved in providing care to or monitoring the treatment of the individual.
c. The involvement of the spouse, parent, adult child, or adult sibling is verified by the individual’s attending physician, attending mental health professional, or a person other than the spouse, parent, adult child, or adult sibling who is responsible for providing treatment to the individual.
Terms Used In Iowa Code 228.8
- Child: includes but shall not be limited to a stepchild, foster child, or legally adopted child and means a child actually or apparently under eighteen years of age, and a dependent person eighteen years of age or over who is unable to maintain the person's self and is likely to become a public charge. See Iowa Code 252A.2
- following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Mental health facility: means a community mental health center, hospital, clinic, office, health care facility, infirmary, or similar place in which professional services are provided. See Iowa Code 228.1
- Mental health information: means oral, written, or recorded information which indicates the identity of an individual receiving professional services and which relates to the diagnosis, course, or treatment of the individual's mental or emotional condition. See Iowa Code 228.1
- Mental health professional: means an individual who has either of the following qualifications:a. See Iowa Code 228.1
- person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
2. A request for mental health information by a person authorized to receive such information under this section shall be in writing, except in an emergency as determined by the mental health professional verifying the involvement of the spouse, parent, adult child, or adult sibling.3. Unless the individual has been adjudged incompetent, the person verifying the involvement of the spouse, parent, adult child, or adult sibling shall notify the individual of the disclosure of the individual’s mental health information under this section.4. Mental health information disclosed under this section is limited to the following:a. A summary of the individual’s diagnosis and prognosis.b. A listing of the medication which the individual has received and is receiving and the individual’s record of compliance in taking medication prescribed for the previous six months.c. A description of the individual’s treatment plan.