[schmergan]

I don't know if any one can help me. I had what I call a "break down" the begining of March. I was unable to handle the stress from my job as a customer service rep and other things going on in my life. I wasn't sleeping. I had headaches and ached every where. I thought I was loosing my mind. I couldn't concentrate and my memory was horrible.
I went to my doctor for help and she prescribed medicine and counseling. I have had several appointments with my doctor and the meds are working. The counceling is starting to see progress.
My problem is the company I work for has hired a 3rd party company to handle all the FMLA and short term disability stuff. My doctor only wants me working a few hours a week, slowly increasing back to full time as I learn how to handle stress/anxiety. I see my counsler once a week to talk about how I am going to balance everything.
This 3rd party company keeps asking for all of my medical records including notes from my counsler. I thought physcotherepy notes were protected under the HIPAA law and did not need to be given to anyone. Does any one know where I can find out what an insurance company can actually ask for?

[Can't Stop Crying]

I'm pretty sure psychotherapy notes are separate from your actual chart. My understanding is that if you sign a release, the therapist can only release the chart information which is usually pretty general and not specific therapy notes from individual sessions. The things in your "chart" usually include diagnosis, prognosis...things like that - not specific issues dealt with in session. Are they requesting the information from you or your T directly? T's won't release individual session notes without a court order. Have you talked to your T about this? They should be transparent about what they are sharing with FMLA and disability insurance.

http://answers.hhs.gov/questions/6180