Transfer of med info between facilities

I work in a hospital pharmacy in NC, and we often have to call methadone/treatment clinics to confirm dosing information in order to continue the proper regimen while the patient is hospitalized.

Until very recently, the process was simple: call clinic, introduce myself, give patient info, receive dosing info. Done.

The last few times I have called, they refuse to give me any information over the phone until they receive a ROI (release of information) form. This has to be signed by the patient, RN, and myself and faxed to the clinic before they can tell me anything about the dose.

A couple questions:

• If you work in a hospital and need to call methadone clinics for dosing info, are you required to send a ROI form?
• Doesn't HIPAA cover sharing of pertinent medical information without patient authorization?