Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession(5)6 June 97
Quick Summary: When faced with a subpoena or a search warrant for a patient’s medical records, a healthcare professional or facility has no obligation but to comply.
Medical confidentiality does not impose a duty upon a healthcare professional or facility to go to court to contest the legal appropriateness of a subpoena or search warrant for a patient’s records, according to the Court of Appeals of Arizona. Linch vs. Thomas-Davis Medical Centers, P.C., 925 P. 2d 686 (Ariz. App., 1996).