Law / United States / 
Rhode Island
Transfer and amendment of confidential healthcare information held by a third party
In force.
A data subject rights rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Data subject rights
- Audit expectation
- none
As of .
What it requires
- After you take an action or make a decision that adversely affects a patient and is based in whole or in part on the patient's confidential healthcare information (for example, denying an insurance application, issuing a policy with other than standard and uniform restrictions, rejecting a claim, or denying or terminating employment for health reasons), transfer copies of all of that patient's confidential healthcare information in your possession to the physician the patient designates in a written request; you may require payment of your actual cost of retrieval, duplication and forwarding (section 5-37.3-5(a)).
- When a patient asks you to amend or expunge any part of the information or to add recent relevant information, notify the healthcare provider who initially forwarded the information and, where that provider concurs, return the information to the provider for modification; do not modify it yourself except on court order (section 5-37.3-5(c)).
- Keep the patient's statement of reasonable length about the correctness or relevance of the information with the part of the information in contention at all times (section 5-37.3-5(c)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
Section 5-37.3-9(b): anyone who intentionally and knowingly violates the chapter shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $1,000, or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The patient, who may sue anyone who violates the chapter for actual and exemplary damages (section 5-37.3-9(a)).
Settledness
- As of
What this law does
Section 5-37.3-5(a) of the Rhode Island General Laws requires a third party, on an action or decision that adversely affects a patient and is based in whole or in part on the patient's confidential healthcare information, and on the patient's written request, to transfer copies of all of that patient's confidential healthcare information in its possession to a physician designated in the request, for which it may require payment of its actual cost of retrieval, duplication and forwarding.
Section 5-37.3-5(c) of the Rhode Island General Laws lets a patient who has reviewed the information request the third party to amend or expunge any part the patient believes is in error or to add recent relevant information, requires the third party to notify the healthcare provider who forwarded the information and, where that provider concurs, return the information to the provider for modification, and provides that the patient's statement of reasonable length on correctness or relevance shall at all times accompany the information in contention.
Section 5-37.3-5(d) of the Rhode Island General Laws gives a person the right, when there is an unreasonable refusal to change the records, to apply to the district court to amend or expunge any part of the person's confidential healthcare information in a third party's possession that the person believes to be erroneous.
Section 5-37.3-3(18) of the Rhode Island General Laws defines a third party as a person other than the patient to whom the confidential healthcare information relates and other than a healthcare provider. Section 5-37.3-9(a) of the Rhode Island General Laws provides that anyone who violates the chapter may be held liable for actual and exemplary damages.
Section 5-37.3-9(b) of the Rhode Island General Laws provides that anyone who intentionally and knowingly violates the chapter shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $1,000, or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both. Section 5-37.3-5 of the Rhode Island General Laws was enacted by Public Law 1978, chapter 297, section 1, and amended by Public Law 1979, chapter 221, section 1.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app handles health records, makes insurance decisions or makes employment decisions.