Patients still paying for health record access
Access to medical records still is proving costly for patients.
Research published in AHIMA Foundation’s Perspective in Health Information Management found that many healthcare providers charge patients for access to their EHRs. Under HIPAA, providers can charge patients a “reasonable” cost-based fee for providing paper or electronic copies of medical records. Most states have set maximum fees that can be charged for medical record copies.
Researchers from Texas State University surveyed 313 executives in acute care, ambulatory surgical centers, home care and integrated delivery systems. They sought current data regarding EHR adoption, portal availability and utilization and health information management (HIM) practices that surround patient access to paper records or EHRs.
In total, 274 respondents (87.5 percent) reported that they utilize an EHR system; of these, 38 percent said that they have a patient portal. Utilization however, was reported to be very low, with nearly 50 percent of healthcare organizations with a patient portal reporting that usage by patients was under 5 percent.
Most interestingly, the study found that more than half of respondents said they charge patients for access to electronic copies of their medical records. Moreover, 64.7 percent of those surveyed indicated that they charge for paper copies of their medical records. Charges for electronic copies varied from a flat fee for a device to per-page fees or some combination of the two, and charges for paper copies were generally by page, with 65 percent reporting that they charged less than $1 per page, according to the study.
“This research revealed wide variation in contemporary practices affecting patient access. HIM professionals are uniquely positioned to play a practical and strategic role in ensuring that patients are able to access, utilize, and share their health information,” wrote the authors. “The time is opportune for HIM professionals to evaluate their policies and procedures to ensure that patient access is provided in secure and patient-friendly ways.”
Read the study.