HIPAA Rights for Temporary Guardian

[sprhsc]

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: South Carolina

Hello,

I manage a pediatric office in SC and a grandparent who has temporary physical custody of a patient is requesting we write a letter that states how her and her husband are the ones who have primarily brought the child to all of the visits to our office (not sure when physical custody was granted). She has brought me a notice of a hearing (that mentions that she has physical custody - so that's how I know) happening tomorrow morning and needs this letter ASAP.

Since she has temp physical custody, do I treat her like a parent who would have full HIPAA rights to such information? In other cases where GPs have requested such letters (and they did not have custody), we denied the request unless we had some sort of legal order. This case is different, but I don't want our office to be dragged into trouble if the parents decide to cause a ruckus over what we gave the GPs.

Any advice?

Thanks,
SP

[Mr. Knowitall]

A temporary custody order is a custody order. It remains in effect until further action of the court.

If grandma was appointed custodian, there should be an order reflecting that fact. The notice of hearing may also reflect that status, but that's not an order.

[sprhsc]

Thanks! To be safe, I asked her to give us the order stating she had physical custody and she never brought it. We ended up getting a call from grandma after her hearing that her son was going to sign over the rights to his parents and that mom never showed up.

Thanks again,
SP