Anne C. Foster writes:
On September 25, 2013, the Northern District Court of Florida, Tallahassee Division, ruled that Florida Statute § 766.1065 violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) by requiring a plaintiff in a medical malpractice action to deliver a presuit authorization which allows the defending medical professionals to conduct ex parte interviews of the plaintiff’s other healthcare providers. Finding that HIPAA does not “otherwise permit or require disclosures in an ex parte interview of the kind at issue,” and that the plaintiff’s presuit authorization under applicable Florida law was invalid under federal rules, the Court enjoined the defendants from interviewing plaintiff’s other health care providers ex parte (i) absent voluntary consent of the plaintiff, or (ii) in accordance with the provisions of HIPAA.
Read more on BakerHostetler Data Privacy Monitor.