Medical Malpractice Attorneys and Lawyers

HIPAA violation if hospital employee get medical records for other reasons if she has a power of attorney?

My wife, with whom I am going through a divorce with, and who works in a hospital used a general power of attorney to get my medical records to use against me in court. If she works in the hospital that I was admitted to, does that violate HIPAA? And can she use a power of attorney to get medical records if I am capabable to get them myself? Thanks!

Public Comments

1. What are the limitations on the POA? If the power of attorney authorized her to access your medical records, then it was quite legal for her to access your medical records. The one I have for my dad states that I can do anything, including 'personal and family maintenance', that is a broad description. If she accessed them with a legal POA then HIPAA does not come into play regardless of her employment with the hospital. Start by revoking the POA, send her a letter stating that it has been revoked. A POA is a POWERFUL document, and not one to be doled out lightly, they give the person the right to act on your behalf REGARDLESS of your current mental state, unless you have specified something different in the POA itself. In other words, even if you are capable of making decisions, with a General POA without restrictions, someone else can be making decisions for you without you knowing.