Over 40 Members of Congress have sent letters to major hospital/provider trade associations urging them to protect information from state-level exposure in response to Attorneys General and others trying to access medical records, including mental health crisis records for LGBTQ+ individuals. 

Context: The investigation by the Tennessee attorney general into young adults seeking transgender health care triggered a massive increase in individuals seeking emergency mental health care, including support for experiencing suicidal thoughts. Rainbow Youth Project (RYP), an organization that provides emergency behavioral health care, responded to 376 acute mental health crises from LGBTQ+ youth in the area in a single day, more than 100 times the project’s average call volume. 

“The devastating impact of patient medical record disclosures in Tennessee — which led to patients experiencing suicidal ideation — has demonstrated the unimaginable and extensive harms that occur when hospitals fail to protect patient privacy,” the members wrote. 

The letter asks the hospital associations to consider these best practices, establish additional best practices, and schedule a roundtable this year with relevant stakeholders, where a toolkit on best practices will be disseminated.

Read the full letter to hospital associations here.