Consumer Blog
Who owns my medical file under HIPAA?
Consumers often need to get a copy of something in their medical file from their doctor, either for themselves or to have sent to another doctor.
Your doctor owns the contents of your medical file. This includes the dates you've been seen, billing, diagnosis, drug use, etc. It also includes images like x-rays and MRIs.
Under the federal law HIPAA, you have a right to get a copy of anything in your file. Your doctor has the right to charge you a reasonable fee to copy that item.
With images, many are now done digitally, so making a copy is no problem. If your provider only does them in hard copy film, they may have to hire an outside company to make copies, so that may drive up the cost.
Cost of digital copies are not regulated in Missouri, but paper copies are. Here is the fee schedule that limits what providers can charge to make copies of medical records.
Technorati Tags: medical records, patients rights, shopping and spending, hipaa, moagoconsumer, consumer protection
Posted by on June 27, 2008 8:00 am :: Comments (1) :: Permalink
1 Response to "Who owns my medical file under HIPAA?"
says:
August 2, 2008 8:17 am
In anticipation of the inevitable, health care providers should set patient co-pays high enough to cover COMMON record keeping expenses, namely copying patient records. Because my health care providers didn't consider the basic costs of record keeping, I now find myself in a Catch-22: I need SS Disability monies in order to pay hundreds of dollars in fees required to get copies of my EXTENSIVE medical records; however, I can't submit my application for SS disability monies i need to pay for the copies without FIRST paying for those very same medical records. Tell me, are there any government grant monies available to help SS Disability applicants pay for copies of their medical records?
