HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act): Primary federal law governing medical privacy, including Privacy Rule requirements, patient rights regarding protected health information (PHI), requirements for valid authorization, and minimum necessary standard for information disclosure

State Privacy Laws: State-specific medical privacy laws that may provide additional privacy protections, specific requirements for medical record release, and varying retention periods for medical records

42 CFR Part 2: Federal regulations providing special protections for substance abuse treatment records and additional authorization requirements for release of such information

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Federal law requiring considerations for accessible format requirements and non-discrimination provisions in medical documentation

HITECH Act: Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act governing electronic health record provisions and additional privacy and security requirements

Authorization Requirements: Essential elements including patient identification, description of information to be released, purpose of disclosure, recipients, expiration date, right to revoke, redisclosure statement, patient's signature, and voluntary nature of authorization