Prisoner medical records
Wis. Stat. § 302.388
in effect(1) Definitions. In this section:
(a) “Health care provider” has the meaning given in s. 146.81 (1) (a) to (p).
(b) “Jail” means a jail or house of correction.
(c) “Jailer” means the sheriff, superintendent or other keeper of a jail.
(d) “Medical staff” means health care providers employed by the department or a jail.
(e) “Patient health care records” has the meaning given in s. 146.81 (4).
(f) “Prisoner” means any person who is either arrested, incarcerated, imprisoned or otherwise detained in a jail or prison but does not include any of the following:
1. Any person who is serving a sentence of detention under s. 973.03 (4) unless the person is in the county jail under s. 973.03 (4) (c).
2. Any child held in custody under ss. 48.19 to 48.21.
3. Any child participating in the mother-young child care program under s. 301.049.
4. A juvenile held in a jail under s. 938.209.
(g) “Receiving institution intake staff” means the warden or superintendent or his or her designee, if a prisoner is transferred to a prison, or the jailer or his or her designee, if a prisoner is transferred to a jail.
(2) Health summary form.
(a) The department shall provide each jailer a standardized form for recording the medical conditions and history of prisoners being transferred to the department or another county’s jail. Except as provided in pars. (b) and (bm), jail medical staff shall complete the form and provide it to the receiving institution intake staff at the time of each such transfer.
(b) If the jail does not have medical staff on duty at the time of a transfer, the jailer or his or her designee shall complete as much of the form as possible and provide it to the receiving institution intake staff at the time of the transfer. The jailer shall ensure that all of the following occur within 24 hours after the transfer:
1. The jail medical staff, the prisoner’s health care provider or, if the prisoner does not have a health care provider, a health care provider under contract with the jail reviews the form provided to the receiving institution at the time of the transfer.
2. The medical staff or health care provider reviewing the form corrects any errors in the form and includes in it any additional available information.
3. The medical staff or health care provider reviewing the form transmits the updated form or the information included on the form by the quickest available means to the receiving institution intake staff.
(bm) Jail medical staff need not complete the form if the jailer or his or her designee provides a copy of the prisoner’s complete medical file to the receiving institution intake staff at the time of the transfer.
(c) Except as provided in pars. (d) and (e), the department shall complete the form described in par. (a) for each prisoner whom the department transfers to a jail and shall provide it to the receiving institution intake staff at the time of the transfer.
(d) If the prison does not have medical staff on duty at the time of a transfer, the warden or superintendent or his or her designee shall complete as much of the form as possible and provide it to the receiving institution intake staff at the time of the transfer. The department shall ensure that all of the following occur within 24 hours after the transfer, unless the prisoner returns to the prison within that time:
1. The prison medical staff, the prisoner’s health care provider or, if the prisoner does not have a health care provider, a health care provider under contract with the department reviews the form provided to the receiving institution at the time of the transfer.
2. The medical staff or health care provider reviewing the form corrects any errors in the form and includes in it any additional available information.
3. The medical staff or health care provider reviewing the form transmits the updated form or the information included on the form by the quickest available means to the receiving institution intake staff.
(e) Paragraph (c) does not apply if the department provides a copy of the prisoner’s complete medical file to the receiving institution intake staff at the time of the transfer.
(f) Receiving institution intake staff may make a health summary form available to any of the following:
1. The prison’s or jail’s medical staff.
2. A prisoner’s health care provider.
3. In the case of a prison or jail that does not have medical staff on duty at the time of the transfer, a health care provider designated by the department or the jailer to review health summary forms.
4. In the case of a jail that does not have medical staff, a person designated by the jailer to maintain prisoner medical records.
(g) If a prisoner’s health summary form or complete medical file indicates that the prisoner has a communicable disease and if disclosure of that information is necessary for the health and safety of the prisoner or of other prisoners, of a correctional officer who has custody of or is responsible for the supervision of the prisoner, of a person designated by a jailer to have custodial authority over the prisoner, of any other employee of the prison or jail, or of a law enforcement officer or other person who is responsible for transferring the prisoner to or from a prison or jail, receiving institution intake staff shall disclose that information to the persons specified in par. (f) 1. to 4. and to that correctional officer, person with custodial authority, law enforcement officer, or other person.
(3) Treatment summaries.
(a) Each health care provider, other than medical staff, who provides health care services to a prisoner shall provide the department or the jail in which the prisoner is confined a written summary of the services provided and a description of follow-up care and treatment that the prisoner requires. The treatment summary may be made available to medical staff at the prison or jail at which the prisoner is confined or the prisoner’s health care provider or, in the case of a jail that does not have medical staff, to a person designated by the jailer to maintain prisoner medical records.
(b) If a prisoner’s treatment summary indicates that the prisoner has a communicable disease and if disclosure of that information is necessary for the health and safety of the prisoner or of other prisoners, of a correctional officer who has custody of or is responsible for the supervision of the prisoner, of a person designated by a jailer to have custodial authority over the prisoner, of any employee of the prison or jail, or of a law enforcement officer or other person who is responsible for transferring the prisoner to or from a prison or jail, the department or jailer shall disclose that information to the persons to whom a treatment summary may be made available under par. (a) and to that correctional officer, person with custodial authority, law enforcement officer, or other person.
(4) Requests for prisoner medical records. Health care providers providing health care services to a prisoner or medical staff at the prison or jail in which a prisoner is confined may obtain patient health care records for the prisoner from other health care providers who have provided health care services to the prisoner while he or she has been confined in a prison or jail and from other prisons or jails in which the prisoner has been confined.
Source: WI Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/302.388Fetched: 10/7/2026