Mont. Code Ann. § 50-16-542

Denial of examination and copying

These requirements only apply to those health care providers and facilities that are not considered covered entities under HIPAA. 

A health care provider (including a health care facility) may deny a patient access to his or her recorded health care information if the provider reasonably concludes any of the following:

• Knowledge of the information would be injurious to the patient;
• Knowledge of the information could reasonably be expected to lead to the patient’s identification of an individual who provided the information in confidence and under circumstances in which confidentiality was appropriate;
• Knowledge of the information could reasonably be expected to cause danger to the life or safety of any individual;
• The information is data that is compiled and used solely for utilization review, peer review, medical ethics review, quality assurance, or quality improvement;
• The information might contain information protected from disclosure as a vital record or report;
• The provider obtained the information  from a person other than the patient; or
• Access to the information is otherwise prohibited by law.

To the extent possible, the provider must segregate the information for which access has been denied and permit the patient to examine and/or copy the information for which access is permitted. If the provider has denied the patient access because knowledge of the information would be injurious to the patient or could reasonably be expected to cause danger to the life or safety of any individual, the provider must permit the patient’s spouse, adult child, parent/guardian, or another provider who is providing services to the patient for the same condition to examine and/or copy the requested information.