Under HIPAA, which rights do patients have?

• A. Patients have the right to access and amend their records.
• B. Patients can modify the medical staff's notes.
• C. Patients can refuse to share any information with anyone.
• D. Patients have no rights beyond paying bills.

Answer: (A)

Under HIPAA, patients have the right to access their protected health information and to request corrections to it. This means you can inspect or obtain copies of your medical records kept by a covered entity, and you can ask that information you believe is incorrect or incomplete be amended. The entity must evaluate the request and, if they deny it, you can add a statement of disagreement to be included with the record. This helps ensure your records are accurate and transparent.

Remember that amendments apply to information in the designated record set, and you can’t simply rewrite a clinician’s notes; some parts of a clinician’s notes may not be editable, though you can pursue an amendment if the information is PHI within the designated set.

HIPAA also does not give a blanket right to withhold all information from everyone. There are allowed disclosures for treatment, payment, and health care operations, and disclosures with your authorization in other contexts. The idea that you have no rights beyond paying bills isn’t accurate.