Guidelines – Physician Access to Immediate Family Members Record

Washington University employed physicians are permitted to access their own Protected Health Information (PHI) directly from a WU/BJC electronic health record. Physicians will also be allowed to directly access the PHI of immediate family members from a WU/BJC electronic health record with the appropriate valid authorization or attestation document on file in Epic. All other physician access to PHI outside of this policy must be for business purposes only (business purpose typically is medical, clinical or academic reasons to access the medical record in relation to your WUSM job role or requests from another clinician for formal or informal review).

For the purpose of this policy, the term immediate family member is defined as parents, spouse, minor or adult children and adult siblings of the physician.

Access to your Medical Record

You are permitted to access your own medical record information. You are not permitted to edit or alter your record.

Access to your Child’s Medical Record (aged 0-11):

Physicians who are the parent or legal guardian of a child aged 0 – 11 may directly access the electronic record of the child. Prior to accessing your child’s record, you must complete an attestation form stating that you are the parent or legal guardian of the child. A copy of the attestation must be submitted to the WU HIM Department and will be scanned into Epic. This attestation will expire when the child turns 12 years old.

Physician (Parent) Access to Child’s Record Form (Age 0-11)

Access to your Child’s Medical Record (aged 12-17):

Physicians who are the parent or legal guardian of an adolescent child aged 12 – 17, may directly access the electronic record of the child. Prior to accessing your adolescent child’s record, you must complete a form which includes your attestation stating that you are the parent or legal guardian of the child. In addition, due to state privacy regulations, your adolescent child must authorize your access and a treating physician of the adolescent must counsel the adolescent regarding the form and the meaning of this request. A copy of the attestation/authorization form must be submitted to the WU HIM Department and will be scanned into Epic. This attestation/authorization will expire when the child turns 18 years old.

Physician (Parent) Access to Adolescent’s Record Form (Age 12-17)

Access to your Family Member’s Medical Record (aged 18 or older):

Physicians may directly access the electronic record of an immediate family member upon request by the immediate family member. Prior to accessing your immediate family member’s record in Epic, your family member must complete a HIPAA Authorization. A copy of the authorization form must be submitted to the WU HIM Department and will be scanned into Epic. This authorization will expire one year from the date signed. Continued access after a year will require a new authorization.

Physician Access to Record of Immediate Family Member Form