"As of July 31, 2007, the Office of Civil Rights has received more than 29,000 HIPAA privacy complaints. On top of that, patients have consistently complained to the OCR that they’re having trouble accessing their medical records. In response, OCR has investigated and resolved nearly 5,000 cases and required the covered entities to implement changes in privacy practices, in addition to other corrective actions. And many healthcare organizations are being tried in the ‘court of public opinion,’ as they try to find a bright line between patient privacy and public protection."

 

This information is obviously being directed toward medical providers; however it certainly affects law firms and the wording on HIPAA releases for cases requiring copies of a client's medical records.