The former patients of a bankrupt chain of clinics in New Mexico are having trouble accessing their medical records and legal experts say consumers may have little recourse.
Albuquerque-based Atrinea Health and three affiliated companies that operate a chain of family and urgent-care clinics filed for Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection last May.
And a growing number of customers claim they are missing medical records, a local TV station reports.
Atrinea's website is still operational although it says all facilities ceased providing patient care on March 18.
The site offers a phone number for patients to call if they have questions regarding their medical records or potential costs associated with obtaining them. But a voicemail says the number's mailbox is full and can't receive further messages. The website also suggests patients call their respective providers.
Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the chief federal health information technology privacy law, patients have a right to obtain electronic copies of their medical records, but it becomes a moot point when that entity no longer exists, said Kirk Nahra, a partner and privacy specialist at the Washington, D.C., law firm Wiley Rein.
A state medical board may go after a physician's license if they fail to take proper care of patient records if a practice closes, he said.
But, Nahra said, “When a company shuts down, they're not worried about an HHS enforcement letter three years later. There is no obligation in HIPAA to keep your business open.”
In 2014, Parkview Health reached an $800,000 settlement with the Office for Civil Rights at HHS after it left boxes of patient medical records on the driveway of a retiring physician's home after the hospital system had acquired the physician's group medical practice.
A civil rights office spokeswoman questioned about the New Mexico clinic situation said it does not comment “on open or potential investigations.”
