Medical Records- question and vent- apparently...

 Does anyone know...

I just moved to Frederick not too long ago from Crofton, MD.  I USED to be a patient at Maryland Primary Care (MPC).  I am NOW a patient at Frederick Primary Care (they are not related).  I have submitted TWO requests for my medical records to MPC, and my NEW Dr has also submitted 2 requests that I filled out as well.  MPC has NOT responded other than to tell me "we dont keep records in house, we send them to a repository.  If you want your records, you may ORDER them for .75 cents PER PAGE from our repository"!  I was a patient there for almost 7 YEARS dealing with tracking down a few serious medical issues and a high risk pregnancy!  My chart is HUGE!  It would cost me thousands of $ to get my records :(  

This is a BIG issue.  I am trying to get insurance approval for WLS, and while my old PCP was totally FOR me having it- as is my NEW PCP- the damn office wont release my records to the new PCP supporting that, OR release the info I NEED to submit to the insurance company for approval!  Im SO livid.  

This HAS to be against the law or something?  I mean yeah, if I just request my records for my own personal copy, I can see them charging for them.  BUT- to tell me I have to PAY for them to be released to my NEW health care provider so he can adequately care for me too?  REALLY?  They are a PCP provider, meaning they REFER patients out to other medical professionals for EVERYTHING!  Are you telling me they have never sent my pertinent medical information to those providers Ive been referred to?  UGH!  Are you kidding me????!!!!!!!!!!

What do I do?  HELP!

 Honey they can NOT withhold your medical records and you will need them. I have Maryland Primary Care right now. I think what is hard is that they have records in ONE location only and there are so many branches of MPC. My Doc said most of my records are now on computer not paper. They have to legally transfer them to you upon your request that is not right. Did you call their main location? Can you go into the office to have them give them to you in person? They legally have to keep the originals for 3 years after you leave their practice BUT they do have to give you copies. Im sorry honey. (((Hugs)))

 Yep, i called the main location and even offered to come in with my own paper, and PRINT them myself off the computer.  They said they dont keep them in house at all, that they are all at some "repository" and I need to call some # and then pay the fee per page to get them.  

 That is so NOT COOL!!!!! Typically when a Doctor calls them and ask for them they just transfer them. If I hear of anything that can be done I will let you know. Just seems unfair to me. I mean they are YOUR RECORDS! Why should you have to pay for your own records? Ughhh!

Call the Maryland Insurance Commission and discuss with them.

Ava,

I am sorry to tell you that they are required to keep a set for themselves and, as such, they are also entitled to charge a fee for the time and cost of copying and preparing the records and forwarding them to your doctor/you.  This is not new and 75 cents per page is not considered an unreasonable rate as long as they are not charging you a processing fee and shipping charges on top of it.  Especially with these larger practices, you are not likely to find anyone willing to waive the fee.  When I left the full-time legal field in 2004, many providers were charging $1 per page.  As much as it sucks, you're probably wasting time and anger on them.  I would recommend YOU get the copies, not the doc.  That way, you can make a set for him and keep your own set.  You'll never have to pay a fee for that portion of your records again as you will always have them.

Terri

Yep, I need to get my knee xrays and they are charging me 10 dollars each and I had about 6! Usually they do forward them for free straight to another doctor though. I have been charged if it is for myself.

Kelly

Wow, I am so sorry you have to deal with this. I have noticed that most doctors have a statement printed in their office about getting records. I have seen the price be $1.00 per page. I know it is a lot of money. It is sad that we need them and must pay to have them. I guess it is expensive for them to do copies for as many patients as most practices have. I wish you luck getting them. My hubby went to MPC in Odenton and has since left them.
                                                                                                      Julie

I have Maryland Primary Care as well and had a bit of a hard time getting copies of my paper records from the repository.  It took a while and in the end some of the records were missing, but I was fortunate in that my insurance company accepted records from my OB-GYN for those years. 

To be approved for WLS, you shouldn't need all of your records and they should be able to just pull exactly what you need...this should reduce the cost significantly.

Good Luck!!
Heather

Hey, Avababe!   I am the medical record secretary in a 4 man cardiac surgeons office.  Unfortunately, what they are telling you is true - they can charge you for your own medical records.  Legally, the information is yours but the paper it's printed on isn't, nor is the time spent to print them and mail them to you.  So there is a fee for the records, the labor & the actual mailing costs. Here in Alabama, the amount is set out in the Alabama Code as a dollar a page up to 25 pages, then 50 cents a page after that.   As far as I know, the only way around paying an exorbitant fee is to specify EXACTLY what you want from the record.  For instance, if you saw the doctor in 2005 for a UTI or broke your arm 5 years ago, you probably don't need that.  But, if the records include previous abdominal surgery, adverse reactions to anesthesia, etc - anything that could impact your upcoming surgery - those are the things you need.  Look carefully at the Authorization to Release Records - there should be a place on a HIPAA compliant form to fill in *exactly* what you want reprinted.  The records may truly be kept off -site - if so, they probably employ a copying service that will actually do the work.  

In our particular office, we do not charge a patient for their own records - we think it's kinda stinky!!!  Nor would we ever charge to send a patient's records to another medical care provider - I would think that ethically, the former office would be required to send your records to the new care provider to ensure continuity of care.  I have never heard of a medical care provider charging either the other medical care provider or the patient when records are shared between two care providers.  Seems that would be a huge breach of professional courtesy!!

I am sorry this has come up - I know you don't need the stress of it!!  Good luck!!