New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 13 - LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY
Chapter 44G - STATE BOARD OF SOCIAL WORK EXAMINERS
Subchapter 12 - CLIENT RECORDS; CONFIDENTIALITY
Section 13:44G-12.4 - Release of client record
Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) For purposes of this section, "authorized representative" means, but is not limited to, a person designated by the client or a court to exercise rights under this section. An authorized representative may be the client's attorney or an agent of a third-party payor with whom the client has a contract, which provides that the third-party payor be given access to records to assess a claim for monetary damages or reimbursement.
(b) At the written request of the client or authorized representative, a social worker shall provide the client record or a summary thereof, within 30 days of the request directly to:
(c) A social worker may elect to provide a summary of the client record, as long as the summary adequately reflects the client's history and treatment, unless otherwise required by law. A social worker may withhold information contained in the client record from a client or a client's guardian if, in the reasonable exercise of his or her professional judgment, the social worker believes the release of such information would adversely affect the client's health or welfare. That record or the summary shall be accompanied with an explanation of the reasons for the refusal.
(d) A social worker may charge a reasonable fee for the reproduction of the client record or the preparation of a summary. The fee shall be no greater than an amount reasonably calculated to recoup the costs of copying or transcription.
(e) A social worker shall not charge a fee for completion of health insurance claim forms.
(f) A social worker may charge a reasonable fee for completion of reports required for third party reimbursement of client treatment expenses when the third party makes a separate request for reports to be completed.
(g) When a report is needed to enable a client to receive ongoing care by another practitioner or for use in judicial proceedings, a social worker shall not require advance payment as a condition for releasing the report; except that a social worker may require advance payment for release of a report prepared by the social worker as an expert witnessor as a custody/parenting evaluator pursuant to 13:44G-13.6.
(h) This section shall not apply to a social worker in an agency setting who does not, by agency policy, have control over or authority to release client records.