Sharing individual health information is an important part of delivering quality health care. Individuals and their health care providers share information with each other to diagnose health issues, make decisions on treatments, and coordinate care.
Health care providers may share many kinds of health information with other providers for the purposes of payment, treatment, and health care operations. However, providers must receive specific consent to share an individual's health records containing certain types of information. In Michigan, federal and state laws require providers to receive consent to share information such as mental health records or information on treatment or referrals for alcohol and substance use.