A flat fee for copies of medical records shouldn’t cost more than $6.50, according to new guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services.
The guidance encourages providers to offer patients electronic copies of their health information free of charge and further clarifies when and how patients can be charged fees for their health data. That includes no charges for patient portal access through certified EHRs, no per-page fees for electronic copies and no surprise fees—providers must inform individuals in advance of the approximate charge.
Providers cannot require that patients come in to pick up their requested copies be mailed, according to the guidance, or require access through a patient portal or mail copies “as this would unreasonably delay the covered entity’s receipt of the request and thus, the individual’s access.”
Read the guidance.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.