Signed the Privacy Release form and was charged for files

[dllfo]

We all have seen the little form we have to sign to get our records released from another doctor. Standard procedure, but getting a bill for copying these
files, without being told I was being charged, has not been standard procedure before and I can't get a straight answer from anyone as to why this happened.
I am not paying it until it is explained to me.

There may be a sentence explaining this in the small print, but having signed dozens of these in the last 20 years I was never charged even one time.

Just a head's up for everyone. If you sign the Privacy Form to have your records released, you may be charged and that CAN add up pretty fast.

[ApNoob]

Just a head's up for everyone. If you sign the Privacy Form to have your records released, you may be charged and that CAN add up pretty fast.

Yup, unfortunately the law alows them to charge "reasonable" fees for copying files. I think they should give me the file and if they want a copy they can copy it at their own expense...

In a recent California staff infection case with a hospital bill exceeding $1,000,000 the patient asked for an itemized bill. The hospital demeaned over $2,000 extra for an itemized bill, "to make copies."

[Slinky]

Yup, the law establishes that our medical records belong to the "generating facility" but that patients have a legal right to copies of their medical records for which the "generating facility" has a legal right to charge a "reasonable" fee.

The only time I've encountered having to pay for a copy of one of my medical records was when they really didn't want to give me a copy. I was charged a $10 "access fee" plus 75 cents a page for a one page radiology report. (The idiots! As if I wasn't aware that I have COPD!) This same facility tried to tell me that my family doctor could NOT LEGALLY give me a copy of this same radiology report!!! Snort. I've refused to use this facility again for ANY reason.

The most likely way to avoid this charge is to have the "generating facility" send a copy to a doctor who is willing to give you a copy, for instance, your family doctor. Generally, a doctor or facility will send such records gratis to a fellow medical professional or facility.

And to share a further warning: if your lawyer needs copies of your medical records the "generating facilities" charge considerably more and I suspect the lawyers tend to tack on a fee for their "expense" as well so if you need copies of your medical records for your lawyer it is generally MUCH cheaper if you gather those medical records yourself. But fair warning on this as well: lawyers will want more detailed records than you would normally get or ask for, they will want such things as Nurses' Notes during a hospital stay, etc. And even if the attorney is handling your case on a "contingency basis" they are allowed to charge you certain expenses "up front" which you have to pay out of pocket. The cost of copies of your medical records are one of those "certain expenses". We were told all this by an attorney when our oldest daughter was killed by a drunk driver 27 years ago.

[momadams]

Still, get copies of everything important.

A few years ago, the doctor who owned the practice we use retired.
She apparently was legally responsible for all of the patient records, even for patients she had never met, and had them put in storage in the next state over.
We were allowed to pay an outrageous fee to have our files copied and transferred to the new practice, and her staff did the deciding about what would be copied. We all have gaps in our files now.
Yes, it is in litigation.

Moral of the story: Get copies of everything important as soon as the report, lab result, xray, etc is generated.

Shari

[Slinky]

Yup. That whiplash I had in 1994. I didn't have enough sense to go to ER when the police suggested it. I waited better than 2 weeks before I went to the doctor. She sent me for xrays to an independent radiology clinic. 4 years later when a spine doctor wanted to see the xrays and the report that independent radiology clinic had destroyed the films and had no record of the report. The report that had been sent to my ordering doctor was so faint, it couldn't be copied and could barely be read.

I learned then and there: I get a copy of EVERY lab report, EVERY radiology report AND I used to pick up the films with the ruse of taking them to my doctor and I wouldn't return them. Now, thank goodness, the radiology departments here are all digital and will give you a CD of the procedure (so far at no charge). I always get the CD as well as the report.

Prior to that I had gone to Mayo Clinic and the local hospital was to have sent some films and records to Mayo ahead of time. They hadn't arrived by the time of my appointment. You'd have thought I would have learned from THAT experience!

[LavenderMist]

Yes, I just ran into this myself and have a bill on my desk to pay. My primary care doctor decided to go into a different field of medicine and closed his practice. When I went to the new doctor I signed a release for her to get my records from the previous doctor. I got a invoice in the mail from a third party medical record company. I had only seen the primary doctor who left practice twice, so contemplated just telling them to forget sending the records since they were going to charge me. I was told that if I cancelled there would be a $10 processing fee since the records had already been scanned. So, I didn't know beforehand I would be charged and if I had opted to not have the records sent I still would incur a charge. They have you going and coming.

[krousseau]

My family doc's office charged $30 for about 10 pages ten years ago. I now pick and choose what I ask for. The CD's are really good for procedures like an angiogram-looking at the written reports of mine it reads as if I reversed mild stenosis in two vessels-they have actually stayed the same when you look at the images on the CD.
So far if I've asked for these reports right after a procedure there has been no charge-not even for the CD.

[dllfo]

Good information. The amount I was charged was VERY reasonable. $20.17 for 68 pages. VERY, VERY reasonable. They probably scanned them so all they had to do was hit the transmit button, but still, in the medical world, $20.17 is an aspirin, if you know what I mean.

My concern, and I just got off the phone with M., at the California State Medical Board. I thought I would show the lady the courtesy of not using her full name, but she said some people have been charged outrageous prices, especially when litigation is involved.

Everyone who reads this needs to know EVERY state has different rules. AND
they do NOT have to tell you. That is the irritating part. The lady at the state said we should ask for them to send our records to us. We are paying for it, so we should get the papers. I did not know I could do that.

This doctor missed the diagnosis. MAJOR MISS. While in Denver, the diagnosis from the local doctor was obviously way off and I asked for a 2nd opinion. They declined, telling me to get it when I returned home. I think this doctor or her staff was miffed that I went to another doctor, so they charged me.

The main thing is to be aware of the concept you CAN be charged twenty five cents a copy and any other fee they deem appropriate. No limitation to this
other charge.

This is some great info. OH, I called about my X-Rays, MRIs, CT-Scans, etc. and they were free. They made me one for each of my specialists back in
Denver. This has the film and the written reports!!! NICE.

EDIT: After talking to the State's Medical Board, I paid the bill. BUT the next privacy form I sign will be different. I may line through their stuff and write in that I will not be responsible for charges unless notified in advance OR that they can send the files to me. Any better ideas???

[clanrat]

..., in the medical world, $20.17 is an aspirin...

Only in the US.

Medicine-for-profit is what is going to cause the eventual downfall of the american empire, I'm sure of it.

Politics aside, I always dempand copies of *everything* following any kind of testing. Doctor's notes, nurse's notes, everything. If it's about you or has your name on it, I would suggest that it is in your best interest to see it.

Why would a lawyer be able to get more detailed information about you, than you can get for yourself? That's just plain silly.

[lvwildcat]

Yes, they can charge. I know that the hospital where I work charges 60 cents a page if patients want records.

[clanrat]

Of course, they can charge a reasonable fee - that's the same here in Canuckistan.

Most of the time, it's the getting them to make the copies that is the challenge.

"You don't need to see that"

"We sent everything to your doctor"

and the one I hate the most:

"You wouldn't understand it anyway"

etc, etc, etc.

[Guest]

There is a cost incurred by the doctors office and I have no problem with them charging me a nominal fee for the work that goes into making the copies. In my case I feel that 1.00 a page is fair and reasonable.
I recently asked for some records and was presented with a cd containing the records, there was no cost.

[krousseau]

Someone just reminded me---YES you do want to see whatever has your name on it. "In another life" I used to review medical records in malpractice suits-some pretty amazing things can be found in charts.
In my own case (not a malpractice suit) i've found notes from 2 clinics I had never been to, a new diagnosis that was not mine, and a note about a "well healed abdominal scar"-never had abdominal surgery and have no scar.
It is also a good way to compare what you said and how the doctor or nurse heard it and interpreted it-that can really get twisted.