Wisconsin law allows the use of patient medical records for research purposes in certain instances.  Patient medical records may be released without informed consent to a researcher who is affiliated with the health care provider and has provided assurances that the information will only be used for research purposes.1  Patients in treatment facilities (for mental illness, alcohol or drug abuse) must provide informed consent before they are subject to experimental techniques or before their records are used for research purposes.2

        The law also allows researchers to have access to reported information on birth defects subject to certain confidentiality requirements.3  The researcher must agree that the information will only be used for the detailed research purposes, that the child-identifying information will not be released to other people, and that the final product will not reveal the child’s identity.4