Section II. DISCLOSURE OF MEDICAL INFORMATION
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CONDITIONS FOR DISCLOSURE/RELEASE
a. General. As explained earlier, medical information is private and confidential;
however, it may be disclosed under certain conditions. All requests for medical information
are processed by the patient administrator, or, in his absence, by a representative of the
MTF commander. Medical information obtained from nonmilitary sources is filed with, but
is not considered part of, the patient's medical record. Such information is available for
further diagnosis and treatment of the patient and other official Department of the Army
uses. Any further disclosure is prohibited. This information remains the property of the
nonmilitary facility and can be released only by that facility. The patient or other requester
is told that additional information is contained in the record and that it may be requested
from the facility of origin.
b. Official Requests.
(1) Release within the Federal government. For official Department of the Army
requests, Army personnel seeking medical information about a patient must request it in
writing from the MTF commander. In such requests, they must present their official
credentials, state their need for the information, and cite the authority supporting the need.
DA Form 4254-R, Request for Private Medical Information (see figure 2-1) is used for
these requests. The MTF commander or patient administrator determines the legitimacy of
each request. If there is any doubt about the need for the information or the credentials of
the requester, seek the advice of the staff judge advocate. In urgent cases such as rape,
child abuse, death, or assault, verbal requests are acceptable, but they must be followed
up by a written request. Other official requests outside the Department of the Army must
follow the same procedures. That is, the information must be for official use only; the
requester must present credentials; cite an authority to provide a basis for the need to
know; and demonstrate that the information requested is relevant to the requesting
agency's need. When in doubt, the requesting agency should contact the local staff judge
advocate.
(2)
Release to local/state governments.
(a) Releasable information. The Army routinely releases certain types of
information to state and local governments such as information on births or deaths
in Army MTFs as well as statistical information about communicable diseases.
(b) Release conditions. Only information required by pertinent local laws
is
released. For this, patient's consent is not required.
(3) Release to facilities other than Army MTFs.
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