Law / United States / 
Alabama
Alabama Mental Health Consumers' Rights Act: confidentiality of and access to a consumer's mental health, medical and financial records
Alabama Mental Health Consumers' Rights Act, Ala. Code sec. 22-56-4(b)(6) and (7)
In force.
A sensitive categories rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Data subject rights, Disclosure
- Audit expectation
- continuous
- Who audits it
- Regulator
As of .
What it requires
- As a provider of inpatient, residential or outpatient mental health services, keep confidential all information in a consumer's mental health, medical and financial records.
- Give a consumer access, on request, to all information in the consumer's mental health, medical and financial records, unless professional staff have made a clinical determination that access would be detrimental to the consumer's health.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Alabama Department of Mental Health, which sets certification standards for the rights in section 22-56-4 and monitors compliance through teams (section 22-56-5).
What this law does
A provider under the Alabama Mental Health Consumers' Rights Act is any agency, corporation, or individual who provides inpatient, residential or outpatient mental health services to a consumer or consumers, and the Act applies to a physician only to the extent that medical services must be provided in accordance with established standards of medical care. A consumer under the Alabama Mental Health Consumers' Rights Act is a person who receives or uses mental health services.
Section 22-56-4(b)(6) gives a consumer of mental health services in an inpatient, residential or outpatient setting the right to confidentiality of all information in the consumer's mental health, medical and financial records.
Section 22-56-4(b)(7) gives a consumer of mental health services in an inpatient, residential or outpatient setting the right to access on request all information in the consumer's mental health, medical and financial records, unless a clinical determination has been made by professional staff that access would be detrimental to the consumer's health.
Section 22-56-4(b)(14) gives a consumer of mental health services in an inpatient, residential or outpatient setting the right to enforce rights in a court of competent jurisdiction or appropriate administrative proceeding. The Alabama Department of Mental Health must establish teams to monitor compliance with its certification standards by state facilities, community mental health centers, and providers under contract to the department.
The Alabama Mental Health Consumers' Rights Act does not reduce or expand the rights of mental health consumers in Alabama beyond the rights guaranteed to any other person under federal and Alabama law.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app handles health records.