Florida’s Health Records Access Rule Goes to Eleventh Circuit

Federal courts have authority to decide whether a federal law protecting certain medical records from disclosure takes precedence over a Florida provision that requires hospitals to give patients access to adverse medical incident reports, a hospital in the state told the Eleventh Circuit.

Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinic Inc. wants the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to reverse an order dismissing its claim for a declaratory judgment that the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act’s privilege for “patient safety work product” preempts a Florida law known as “Amendment 7.”

The case presents an ongoing question in Florida, ...