No.  Under the federal privacy law known as “HIPAA”, requests for psychological and psychiatric records must be presented in a distinctly separate release authorization than the standard authorization used for medical records.

The HIPAA law (45 Code of Federal Regulations section 164.508(b)(3)(ii)) distinguishes between psychotherapy records and psychological and psychiatric records, but allows all of these types of records to be included on one authorization. When mental or emotional damages are claimed and supported by treatment, you should secure separate authorizations for the disclosure of these types of records.

If you request psychological or psychiatric records using a standard HIPAA release authorization, the medical records administrator will be justified in refusing to release the records.

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