Some materials held by the Chesney Archives are protected by the HIPAA Privacy Rule and Maryland law governing the confidentiality of medical records.
HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, 1993) applies to identifiable health information of living individuals and those deceased for less than 50 years. Johns Hopkins may permit researchers to access and use protected information as determined by the institutional Privacy Board, which allows access and use for purposes of research with stipulations for protection of identifiers.
The Maryland Confidentiality of Medical Records Act allows for disclosures for educational or research purposes, subject to the applicable requirements of the Institutional Review Board. Researchers must sign an acknowledgement of the duty under the Act not to re-disclose any patient identifying information.
For details about accessing materials under HIPAA and Maryland law, see the links below.