The Tennessee Court of Appeals has released its opinion in Hayward v. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hosp. Auth., No. E2022-00488-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 27, 2023). The syllabus reads:
This health care liability action was brought against a hospital and a physician. The plaintiff sent pre-suit notice to three1 potential defendants prior to initiating the action. The trial court found, however, that the plaintiff failed to include as part of the pre-suit notice a HIPAA-compliant medical authorization because one of the six core elements was incorrect on the authorization. Following a motion to dismiss filed pursuant to Tenn. R. Civ. P. 12.02(6), the trial court granted the motion and dismissed the action against the defendant hospital due to noncompliance with Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-121. The plaintiff argues, among other things, that he should have been allowed to conduct limited discovery in order to determine whether the defendant hospital had been prejudiced by his failure to provide a HIPAA-compliant medical authorization. We vacate the trial court’s grant of the motion to dismiss and hold that the plaintiff should have been permitted to conduct limited discovery regarding whether prejudice existed for the trial court to consider in its determination of whether the plaintiff substantially complied with the pre-suit notice requirements of Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-121.
Here is a link to the slip opinion: E2022-00488.pdf (tncourts.gov)
NOTE: Look for the defense to ask the Tennessee Supreme Court to review this case (via Tenn. R. App. P. 11), which is virtually guaranteed. Itis noteworthy to point out that this case cites HIPAA's health care operations exception in support of its holding (which allows the disclosure of a patient's protected health information without a signed disclosure. As a result, this is a must-read opinion for any lawyer who handles health care liability actions under Tennessee substantive law.
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