Montana Code 50-16-526. Patient authorization to health care provider for disclosure
50-16-526. Patient authorization to health care provider for disclosure. (1) A patient may authorize a health care provider to disclose the patient’s health care information. A health care provider shall honor an authorization and, if requested, provide a copy of the recorded health care information unless the health care provider denies the patient access to health care information under 50-16-542.
Terms Used In Montana Code 50-16-526
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Health care: means any care, service, or procedure provided by a health care provider, including medical or psychological diagnosis, treatment, evaluation, advice, or other services that affect the structure or any function of the human body. See Montana Code 50-16-504
- Health care information: means any information, whether oral or recorded in any form or medium, that identifies or can readily be associated with the identity of a patient and relates to the patient's health care. See Montana Code 50-16-504
- Health care provider: means a person who is licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by the laws of this state to provide health care in the ordinary course of business or practice of a profession. See Montana Code 50-16-504
- Patient: means an individual who receives or has received health care. See Montana Code 50-16-504
- Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision or agency, or other legal or commercial entity. See Montana Code 50-16-504
- Reasonable fee: means the charge, as provided for in 50-16-540, for duplicating, searching for, or handling recorded health care information. See Montana Code 50-16-504
- Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203
(2)A health care provider may charge a reasonable fee, not to exceed the fee provided for in 50-16-540, and is not required to honor an authorization until the fee is paid.
(3)To be valid, a disclosure authorization to a health care provider must:
(a)be in writing, dated, and signed by the patient;
(b)identify the nature of the information to be disclosed; and
(c)identify the person to whom the information is to be disclosed.
(4)Except as provided by this part, the signing of an authorization by a patient is not a waiver of any rights a patient has under other statutes, the Montana Rules of Evidence, or common law.