You are the administrator on duty at General Hospital. It is Friday afternoon and the day shift is anxious to get off work on time and start the weekend. Mrs. Anderson, a mid-level administrator on her day off, brings her 15 year old daughter, Sandra, in for a check-up of abdominal pain. Examinations and diagnostic work-up reveal that Sandra is pregnant.
Sandra reveals to the physician that her step-father has molested her and she does not wish her mother to know. Mrs. Anderson demands Sandra's original medical records - claiming that as the mother, she has a legal right to the records. You are called by the emergency room physician and the supervisor in the medical records department with pleas for help. Mrs. Anderson confides in you that her religious beliefs demand that she alter the medical records for the sake of family unity. Accordingly she demands the medical records.
Discuss the foregoing scenario in light of HIPAA and applicable state laws pertaining to medical records and privacy.