While last month’s case showed the balancing test that courts will perform in deciding when to allow government access to a patient’s medical records, a different standard applies to psychotherapy records.

Errors are inevitable, which is why good systems have redundancies. But when the “double-check” gets overlooked, all that effort can come to naught.

The responsibility of a specialist to make a referral to another specialist — or instead rely on the primary care physician — will depend on a number of variables. But at the very least, the medical record on the issue should avoid ambiguity.