A member of the hospital's medical staff has been accused of improperly billing Medicare for treatments done in his office that were not medically necessary. A subpoena for copies of patient records was received but the subpoena does not include a valid authorization for release of information, as required by the state.

1. What elements must you check before releasing the patient records?  
2. What legal concept (described in Chapter 3) will determine admissibility of the hospital records into evidence?