Regulation Changes an Effort to Balance Student Medical Records Safety & Privacy

Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act protections expanded by new amendments

CHICAGO, July 7, 2009—A student with documented behavioral health problems triggered horrible panic and confusion on a college campus when 32 teachers and students were gunned down during the now infamous Virginia Tech tragedy. Yet, shards of positive fallout prompted by that life-shattering event continue to grow.  The latest are regulatory changes in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) aimed at allowing more flexibility to share data from a student’s education records, according to an article in the July issue of the Journal of AHIMA.

This article explains that student health information is not subject to HIPAA Privacy rule requirements because educational institutions generally will not meet the definition of a HIPAA covered entity, since student records are not protected health information.

Originally passed in 1974, FERPA is designed to safeguard student information—including health records. Initially, it prohibited disclosing, without consent, the educational records of students who were attending—or had attended—an educational program that received funding from the U.S. Department of Education.

However, earlier this year, FERPA introduced regulatory amendments to broaden access under certain circumstances.  The exceptions related to health and safety emergencies received the greatest level of attention. “Amendments to FERPA Regulations” discusses the final regulations for significant changes in three broad categories:

1. School safety (health/safety emergencies and disclosures to parents)
2. Better access to education data for research and accountability
3. Safeguarding privacy and education records.

These regulations grant educational institutions broader discretion to disclose information from education records when there is a threat to student health and safety. Additionally, the fear of penalty for wrongful disclosure is significantly reduced.

Also in this issue

This month’s Journal of AHIMA includes the article “Parental Proxy Access via Web Portals” that explores the release of information process and how allowing parental proxy access to a child’s records is not as easy as it sounds.

Read these articles, our monthly Professional Practice Brief and more in the July issue of the Journal of AHIMA or online at journal.ahima.org.

About AHIMA

The American Health Information Management Association is America’s leading professional society whose mission is to “improve healthcare by advancing best practices and standards for health information management and [serve as] the trusted source for education, research and professional credentialing.” AHIMA represents more than 53,000 specially educated HIM professionals who serve healthcare and the public by managing, analyzing and utilizing data vital for health system management. www.ahima.org