Families Fear for Patient Privacy After Vanderbilt University Turns Over Transgender Healthcare Records to Tennessee AG

Vanderbilt University Medical Center sent the medical records of transgender patients to Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office as part of an investigation into the medical center's billing of transgender patients, The Tennessean reported.

The investigation is looking into potential medical billing fraud involving transgender care services billed to people enrolled in state-sponsored insurance plans, according to the outlet. Medical records from 2018 to present day are included in the investigation, and the medical center first started sending relevant records in December.

"VUMC received requests from the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General as part of its investigation seeking information about transgender care at VUMC. The Tennessee Attorney General has legal authority in an investigation to require that VUMC provide complete copies of patient medical records that are relevant to its investigation. VUMC was obligated to comply and did so," John Howser, VUMC's chief communications officer, said in a statement to the Tennessean.

In an email to the Tennessean, Brandon Smith, the state attorney general’s chief of staff, said the office was “surprised” that the medical center “has deliberately chosen to frighten its patients like this” and that the office’s probe is focused on providers rather than patients. Smith added that the investigation was nt publicized to “preserve the integrity of the investigative process.” 

The executive director of an LGBTQ+ advocacy group told the Tennessean that three families of transgender children called him after the medical center informed them that their child’s medical records were provided to the attorney general.

“They’re terrified,” Chris Sanders of the Tennessee Equality Project told the Tennessean. “They don’t know what’s next, they don’t know how this will be used or whether they will be targeted in some way. They feel like their privacy has been violated.”

HIPAA allows medical records to be released if law enforcement agencies through “administrative request, including an administrative subpoena or summons, a civil or an authorized investigative demand, or similar process authorized under law.” The requested files have to be “relevant and material” and de-identified, according to the law.

The investigation into the medical center comes on the heels of legislators approving a bill to ban transgender treatment for minors in the state. The law banning children in the state from accessing gender-affirming healthcare is set to take effect on July 1, though it has been challenged by families and the Department of Justice.