Case Study Review
Rebekah Gardner
BSHS 335
November 04, 2015
Stephanie Chupein

Case Study Review
A father arrives at the Methodist Hospital with his six-year-old son Tavion Robinson. Tavion is suffering from a broken arm and abrasions. Tavion’s father advises the hospital that Tavion fell from the jungle gym at the park. Tavion’s father displays reluctance to Tavion being left alone with hospital staff. Emergency room staff suspects that Tavion’s injuries did not happen as his father reported because the abrasions were too clean. Tavion’s abrasions would not have been so clean if brought in immediately after his fall from the jungle gym. While Tavion was undergoing his x-ray, the staff did not allow Tavion’s father in the room, and they were able to question Tavion about his injuries. Tavion verified his father’s story and consistently denied and abuse or fear of his father.
Before leaving the hospital, Tavion’s father advises the staff to make note that he should be notified before the release of Tavion’s records to anyone. Tavion’s father advises that Tavion’s parents are divorced and that Tavion’s mother is the noncustodial parent. Tavion’s father requests that Tavion’s records not be released to his mother without his father’s consent. The following weekend Tavion’s mother made a request to the Health Information Department for Tavion’s medical records. Tavion’s mother advises the department that she feels that Tavion’s father is abusing him, and she wanted to see the records.
Some of the ethical and legal dilemmas, in this case, are confidentiality and the possible countertransference between the mother and the records clerk. Does one respect the father’s request for approval before the release of records or does the fact that there may be possible child abuse nullify that request? These are questions that may arise in a situation like