10 Ways to Retrieve Your Records

You have a legal right to see and get a copy of your health information. Getting it is another story. Here are ten ways to do it.

1. Your patient portal

Most hospitals and practices have one, such as MyChart. Under federal rules, most of your test results, visit notes, and reports should show up there electronically, often as soon as they are ready. Look for options like "Download", "Share my record", or "Request records".

2. Connect your portal to an app you choose

Federal rules require certified health record systems to let you connect apps you choose to your records. Instead of logging in to each portal, an app can pull your records together for you. Caspia does this for MyChart.

3. A formal request to the records office

Ask the medical records office (sometimes called health information management) for a copy. Under HIPAA:

• They must act on your request within 30 days, with one 30-day extension if they tell you why in writing.
• They must give it to you in the form you ask for, such as electronic, if they can readily produce it that way.
• They may charge only a reasonable, cost-based fee. Many charge nothing, especially for electronic copies.
• They cannot refuse because you have an unpaid bill.

Put your request in writing and keep a copy.

4. Have it sent straight to someone else

You can ask that a copy be sent directly to another doctor, a family member, or an app you choose. This is often faster than collecting it yourself and passing it on.

5. Ask at the visit

Before you leave, ask for the after-visit summary and copies of any results. It is much easier to get a record in the room than months later.

6. Imaging: ask for the report and the pictures

The radiology report and the images are separate. Ask for both. Instead of a CD, ask whether they can send a download link or share the images through an online image-sharing service.

7. Go to the lab directly

Since 2014, labs must give you your own test reports when you ask. Many large labs have their own apps or websites where results appear.

8. Your pharmacy

Your pharmacy has your medication history, including prescriptions from every doctor who sent one there. Ask at the counter for a printout, or check the pharmacy's app.

9. Your insurer, Medicare, or the VA

Your health plan has a record of every claim it paid: visits, tests, procedures, and prescriptions, from every provider. Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, CHIP, and plans on HealthCare.gov must let you connect an app to that history. People with Medicare can download their claims through Blue Button on Medicare.gov, and veterans can use Blue Button on My HealtheVet.

10. Old or closed practices

If a practice has closed or a doctor has retired, the records usually went somewhere: another practice, a records storage company, or the hospital that bought the practice. Your state medical board or health department can often tell you where. Your area's health information exchange may also hold records from many local providers.

If someone says no

If a provider refuses, ignores you, or takes too long, you can file a complaint with the HHS Office for Civil Rights. It has taken enforcement action against providers who failed to give patients their records.

Then keep it all in one place

Getting your records is half the job. The other half is keeping them together and understanding them. That is what Caspia is for. Here is how to get started. Or just text "hi" to 1-888-488-3031.

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Sources

1. HHS, Individuals' Right under HIPAA to Access their Health Information (45 CFR 164.524). https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/guidance/access/index.html
2. ASTP/ONC, Information blocking. https://www.healthit.gov/topic/information-blocking
3. CMS, CLIA Program and HIPAA Privacy Rule; Patients' Access to Test Reports, final rule (2014). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2014/02/06/2014-02280/clia-program-and-hipaa-privacy-rule-patients-access-to-test-reports
4. CMS, Interoperability and Patient Access final rule (2020). https://www.cms.gov/priorities/key-initiatives/burden-reduction/interoperability
5. Medicare.gov, Blue Button. https://www.medicare.gov/manage-your-health/medicare-claims-data
6. HHS Office for Civil Rights, file a complaint. https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/complaints/index.html