txlawyerCordell & Cordell Texas family law attorney Kelly Burris recently wrote an article for Texas Lawyer regarding the revised Texas Medical Records Privacy Act titled, “The Family Law Practitioner’s Guide to Surviving the Texas Medical Records Privacy Act and HIPAA.”

In the article, Ms. Burris explains how a 2012 revision to TMRPA essentially broadens the scope of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in Texas.

“In the past, family law attorneys only had to concern themselves with HIPAA in so far as it applied to requesting records from a health care provider,” Ms. Burris wrote. “Under TMRPA, HIPAA has been expanded to apply to any ‘covered entity’ which includes any person and/or employee, agent or contractor of a person that ‘comes into possession of protected health information (PHI)’ or ‘obtains or stores protected health information.'”

Cordell & Cordell Regional Partner Kelly Burris

Cordell & Cordell Regional Partner Kelly Burris

Often in family law cases, attorneys will obtain, store or transmit records or other PHI involving the parties or the children in the suit.

“Because these records are kept as part of the file for family law cases, TMRPA is almost certainly applicable to every family attorney or firm in Texas,” Ms. Burris said.

Click here to read the full article.

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