Medical records are created when you receive treatment from a health professional such as a physician, nurse, dentist, chiropractor, or psychiatrist. Records may include your medical history, details about your lifestyle (such as smoking or involvement in high-risk sports), and family medical history.
In addition, your medical records contain laboratory test results, medications prescribed, and reports that indicate the results of operations and other medical procedures. Your records could also include the results of genetic testing used to predict your future health. And they might include information about your participation in research projects.
Information you provide on applications for disability, life, or accidental insurance with private insurers or government programs can also become part of your medical file.
All of these types of medical records present privacy implications for you as an employee, if there is a possibility of your employer accessing this information.
For medical files that are covered under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, all individually identifiable information is protected. Individually identifiable information is information, including demographic data, that relates to:
The individual’s past, present, or future physical or mental health condition,
The provision of health care to the individual, or
The past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to the individual.