Confidentiality of Records

The filing of a claim for workers’ compensation is considered to be a limited waiver of the doctor/patient privilege to persons who are necessary to resolve the claim.  Those who can receive access to worker’s compensation claims files at the Division of Workers’ Compensation or the Division of Administrative Hearings is governed by statue.  (See Section 8-47-203, C.R.S.).  A claimant may object to the release of their medical records to the insurance company or self-insured employer, but case law has uniformly held that the claimant must sign a release regarding confidential medical information if that information is arguably relevant to the issues presented in the workers’ compensation case.  If a claimant is concerned about embarrassing, non-relevant information, they can ask for an “in-camera” review of the documents by an Administrative Law Judge.  This means that the Administrative Law Judge will see the records before the insurance company or self-insured employer and will decide if they are arguably relevant to the issues in the case.  If they are not relevant, the Administrative Law Judge will issue an order that the records shall not be released.