Secrecy in Session with Stacey Tovino | School of Law

Wednesday, January 20th, 2027
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Add to Calendar: Add to Calendar: 2027-01-20 12:00:00 2027-01-20 13:00:00 Secrecy in Session with Stacey Tovino Event Description This event is in-person (with lunch) for CWRU students, faculty, and staff and virtual for everyone else.Federal and state privacy laws provide heightened confidentiality protections for psychotherapy notes, but only when those notes are separated from the rest of the patient’s medical record. This separation requirement, first embedded in the HIPAA Privacy Rule more than twenty-five years ago, has received surprisingly little scholarly attention despite profound changes in psychotherapy practice, the widespread adoption of electronic health records, the rapid emergence of AI-powered therapy scribes, and growing law enforcement demand for health information. After analyzing federal and state laws defining and safeguarding psychotherapy notes and reviewing current psychotherapy documentation practices, this presentation challenges the premise that only separated psychotherapy notes warrant heightened confidentiality protections. In particular, this presentation will argue that the voluntary nature of psychotherapy note separation often causes patients to lose privacy protections through no voluntary and autonomous choice of their own; that the misuse of integrated psychotherapy notes can cause the same informational injuries as the misuse of separated notes; that modern technologies make subsequent selection, redaction, and data minimization increasingly feasible; that the application of the minimum necessary rule, adherence to the concept of role-based access, and the use of technical and physical safeguards should alleviate concerns associated with the removal of the separation requirement. This presentation will conclude by proposing amendments to the HIPAA Privacy Rule and similar federal and state laws that would extend heightened confidentiality protections to psychotherapy notes regardless of their location. More broadly, this presentation suggests that data privacy law should protect information based on its sensitivity, potential for informational harm, and practical value rather than the happenstance of its classification or storage.Bio:Stacey Tovino, JD, PhD, serves as the John B. Turner LLM Program Chair in Law. An elected member of the American Law Institute and an invited fellow of the American Bar Foundation, Professor Tovino's current research focuses on patient privacy and health information confidentiality law, mental health law, substance use disorders and the law, and health insurance law. Professor Tovino publishes her interdisciplinary research in textbooks, casebooks, encyclopedias, law reviews, medical and science journals, and ethics and humanities journals. Her recent scholarship has placed in Texas A&M Law Review (forthcoming 2027), Ohio State Law Journal (2026), Texas A&M Law Review (2025), Fordham Law Review (2024), Boston College Law Review (2024), Emory Law Journal (2023), William and Mary Law Review (2023), Cardozo Law Review (2023), Duke Law Journal (2022), Alabama Law Review (2020), Notre Dame Law Review (2019), Iowa Law Review (2019), Alabama Law Review (2018), Washington and Lee Law Review (2017), Minnesota Law Review (2016), Boston College Law Review (2016), and Washington Law Review (2016). An enthusiastic teacher, Professor Tovino earned law school-wide teaching awards in 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2020, as well as an OU College of Law Institutional Impact Award in 2021. Within the legal academy, Professor Tovino has served as Chair of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) Mentor Committee (2023-2027), Treasurer of the Southern Association for the History of Medicine and Science (SAHMS) (2026-2027), Chair of the AALS Section on Law Professors with Disabilities and Allies (2025), Chair of the AALS Section on Law and Mental Disability (2024 and 2009), Chair of the AALS Section on Biolaw (2024), Chair of the AALS Section on Law and the Humanities (2023), Chair of the AALS Section on Law, Medicine, and Health Care (2022), and Chair of the AALS Section on Torts and Compensation Systems (2018). Professor Tovino also recently completed two-year terms on the Executive Committee of the AALS Section on Teaching Methods (2020-2022) and on the Planning Committee of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (2018-2020). Professor Tovino is a frequent speaker on the local, national, and international levels. She has been invited to guest lecture and present papers on a range of health law, bioethics, and medical humanities topics at schools of law, medicine, nursing, public health, pharmacy, life sciences, health sciences, and public policy, as well as undergraduate and graduate departments of neuroscience, biology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and humanities around the world. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, Professor Tovino served for a decade as the Judge Jack and Lulu Lehman Professor of Law and the Founding Director of the Health Law Program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) William S. Boyd School of Law. In 2019, Professor Tovino received UNLV's Top Tier Award, an honor bestowed on faculty members who demonstrate excellence in all five areas of UNLV’s Top Tier Mission, including research and external funding, teaching excellence and student achievement, academic health center growth, infrastructure and shared governance, and community partnerships. Professor Tovino has also served as Founding Director of the Health Law and Policy Center and Associate Professor of Law at Drake University Law School (2008-2010); Assistant Professor of Law at Hamline University School of Law (2006-2008); Visiting Assistant Professor, Research Professor, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston Law Center (2003-2006); and attorney in the Health Industries Group of the Houston office of the international law firm Vinson & Elkins (1997-2003). During her practice, Professor Tovino represented physicians, scientists, allied health professionals, general and special hospitals, academic medical centers, organ procurement organizations, blood banks, and nonprofit health care organizations in civil, regulatory, operational, and transactional matters. School of Law School of Law America/New_York public

Event Description

This event is in-person (with lunch) for CWRU students, faculty, and staff and virtual for everyone else.

Federal and state privacy laws provide heightened confidentiality protections for psychotherapy notes, but only when those notes are separated from the rest of the patient’s medical record. This separation requirement, first embedded in the HIPAA Privacy Rule more than twenty-five years ago, has received surprisingly little scholarly attention despite profound changes in psychotherapy practice, the widespread adoption of electronic health records, the rapid emergence of AI-powered therapy scribes, and growing law enforcement demand for health information. After analyzing federal and state laws defining and safeguarding psychotherapy notes and reviewing current psychotherapy documentation practices, this presentation challenges the premise that only separated psychotherapy notes warrant heightened confidentiality protections. In particular, this presentation will argue that the voluntary nature of psychotherapy note separation often causes patients to lose privacy protections through no voluntary and autonomous choice of their own; that the misuse of integrated psychotherapy notes can cause the same informational injuries as the misuse of separated notes; that modern technologies make subsequent selection, redaction, and data minimization increasingly feasible; that the application of the minimum necessary rule, adherence to the concept of role-based access, and the use of technical and physical safeguards should alleviate concerns associated with the removal of the separation requirement. This presentation will conclude by proposing amendments to the HIPAA Privacy Rule and similar federal and state laws that would extend heightened confidentiality protections to psychotherapy notes regardless of their location. More broadly, this presentation suggests that data privacy law should protect information based on its sensitivity, potential for informational harm, and practical value rather than the happenstance of its classification or storage.

Bio:
Stacey Tovino, JD, PhD, serves as the John B. Turner LLM Program Chair in Law. An elected member of the American Law Institute and an invited fellow of the American Bar Foundation, Professor Tovino's current research focuses on patient privacy and health information confidentiality law, mental health law, substance use disorders and the law, and health insurance law. Professor Tovino publishes her interdisciplinary research in textbooks, casebooks, encyclopedias, law reviews, medical and science journals, and ethics and humanities journals. Her recent scholarship has placed in Texas A&M Law Review (forthcoming 2027), Ohio State Law Journal (2026), Texas A&M Law Review (2025), Fordham Law Review (2024), Boston College Law Review (2024), Emory Law Journal (2023), William and Mary Law Review (2023), Cardozo Law Review (2023), Duke Law Journal (2022), Alabama Law Review (2020), Notre Dame Law Review (2019), Iowa Law Review (2019), Alabama Law Review (2018), Washington and Lee Law Review (2017), Minnesota Law Review (2016), Boston College Law Review (2016), and Washington Law Review (2016). An enthusiastic teacher, Professor Tovino earned law school-wide teaching awards in 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2020, as well as an OU College of Law Institutional Impact Award in 2021.

Within the legal academy, Professor Tovino has served as Chair of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) Mentor Committee (2023-2027), Treasurer of the Southern Association for the History of Medicine and Science (SAHMS) (2026-2027), Chair of the AALS Section on Law Professors with Disabilities and Allies (2025), Chair of the AALS Section on Law and Mental Disability (2024 and 2009), Chair of the AALS Section on Biolaw (2024), Chair of the AALS Section on Law and the Humanities (2023), Chair of the AALS Section on Law, Medicine, and Health Care (2022), and Chair of the AALS Section on Torts and Compensation Systems (2018). Professor Tovino also recently completed two-year terms on the Executive Committee of the AALS Section on Teaching Methods (2020-2022) and on the Planning Committee of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (2018-2020).

Professor Tovino is a frequent speaker on the local, national, and international levels. She has been invited to guest lecture and present papers on a range of health law, bioethics, and medical humanities topics at schools of law, medicine, nursing, public health, pharmacy, life sciences, health sciences, and public policy, as well as undergraduate and graduate departments of neuroscience, biology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and humanities around the world.

Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, Professor Tovino served for a decade as the Judge Jack and Lulu Lehman Professor of Law and the Founding Director of the Health Law Program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) William S. Boyd School of Law. In 2019, Professor Tovino received UNLV's Top Tier Award, an honor bestowed on faculty members who demonstrate excellence in all five areas of UNLV’s Top Tier Mission, including research and external funding, teaching excellence and student achievement, academic health center growth, infrastructure and shared governance, and community partnerships. Professor Tovino has also served as Founding Director of the Health Law and Policy Center and Associate Professor of Law at Drake University Law School (2008-2010); Assistant Professor of Law at Hamline University School of Law (2006-2008); Visiting Assistant Professor, Research Professor, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston Law Center (2003-2006); and attorney in the Health Industries Group of the Houston office of the international law firm Vinson & Elkins (1997-2003). During her practice, Professor Tovino represented physicians, scientists, allied health professionals, general and special hospitals, academic medical centers, organ procurement organizations, blood banks, and nonprofit health care organizations in civil, regulatory, operational, and transactional matters.

Stacey A. Tovino, JD, PhD
John B. Turner LLM Program Chair in Law
The University of Oklahoma College of Law