Somebody calm me down

[Buster]

4 yrs later and they still won't give me Pixie's records!

Hi Pixiesmommy,

 

Under HIPAA you have rights to her medical record with three exceptions:

• psychotherapy notes can only be given to other licensed psychotherapists
  
• records created for use in litigation are not made available to you
  
• if access would result in harm to you or another person
  

These are federal requirements and their license can be in jeopardy if they fail to comply. In particular, they are required to present to you a privacy notice that includes information about how you can obtain copies of your medical record. If a written request is required, the privacy notice must tell you this.

 

If you are denied access, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Office of Civil Rights. Your state's medical privacy law might also enable you to file a complaint with state regulators. For a state-by-state guide to health privacy law, try http://hpi.georgetown.edu/privacy/records.html

 

If you want a sample letter that is quite effective, use http://www.privacyrights.org/Letters/medical2.htm

 

Given the severity of sanctions that happens if a provider fails to comply I am really surprised you are having any difficulties. Technically, HIPAA gives providers a maximum of 30 days to provide the records. One 30-day extension is allowed for good reasons. State laws typically provide even less time (and cannot extend the time). Essentially the state law can put more pressure on providers but cannot relax the requirements to provide records.

 

I highly recommend sending registered letter using the form above -- don't call them, just send the letter. They can charge you a modest fee for the records -- typically this fee is waived but can be 1-5cent/page.

 

Even if they have failed to respond to your demand before, you should restart the clock by sending them a new letter. If they fail to respond to you then within 180 days of the breach you can file a complaint with DHHS ( http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/compaints/ )

 

Upon receipt of a complaint, the DHHS will contact the party. A person or organization that fails to follow the Privacy Rule can face an immediate fine of up to $25,000 and in extreme cases can involve the department of justice. If the DOJ get involved then this can be 10 years in jail and a fine of $250,000.

 

Bottom line, you should be able to get the records.

 

Buster

[mama2alex]

Buster,

 

Thanks for providing this information. I imagine it will be useful to more than one person here at some point.

 

Our pediatrician (not a nurse or receptionist) gave me a hard time about getting my son's records a few weeks into his June exacerbation (his first severe one that led to finally getting PANDAS diagnosed), but I gave her a hard time back. In the end, she charged me $50 for about 50 pages.

 

 

 

4 yrs later and they still won't give me Pixie's records!

Hi Pixiesmommy,

 

Under HIPAA you have rights to her medical record with three exceptions:

• psychotherapy notes can only be given to other licensed psychotherapists
  
• records created for use in litigation are not made available to you
  
• if access would result in harm to you or another person
  

These are federal requirements and their license can be in jeopardy if they fail to comply. In particular, they are required to present to you a privacy notice that includes information about how you can obtain copies of your medical record. If a written request is required, the privacy notice must tell you this.

 

If you are denied access, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Office of Civil Rights. Your state's medical privacy law might also enable you to file a complaint with state regulators. For a state-by-state guide to health privacy law, try http://hpi.georgetown.edu/privacy/records.html

 

If you want a sample letter that is quite effective, use http://www.privacyrights.org/Letters/medical2.htm

 

Given the severity of sanctions that happens if a provider fails to comply I am really surprised you are having any difficulties. Technically, HIPAA gives providers a maximum of 30 days to provide the records. One 30-day extension is allowed for good reasons. State laws typically provide even less time (and cannot extend the time). Essentially the state law can put more pressure on providers but cannot relax the requirements to provide records.

 

I highly recommend sending registered letter using the form above -- don't call them, just send the letter. They can charge you a modest fee for the records -- typically this fee is waived but can be 1-5cent/page.

 

Even if they have failed to respond to your demand before, you should restart the clock by sending them a new letter. If they fail to respond to you then within 180 days of the breach you can file a complaint with DHHS ( http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/compaints/ )

 

Upon receipt of a complaint, the DHHS will contact the party. A person or organization that fails to follow the Privacy Rule can face an immediate fine of up to $25,000 and in extreme cases can involve the department of justice. If the DOJ get involved then this can be 10 years in jail and a fine of $250,000.

 

Bottom line, you should be able to get the records.

 

Buster