I have requested my medical records from a previous doctor and they will not give me my records. Is this legal?
Thank you for any advice.

Do you owe the doctor any money?

No money is owed, this doctor told me that I had three heart attacks but actually I did not have any at all per the heart doctor which I saw.
Thank you

Ask your doctor if he has ever heard of HIPAA. Explain that you are more than willing to file a HIPAA claim in order to get it.

What is HIPPA and thank you so much for this info

Look at my spelling, and compare it to yours.

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/consumer_summary.pdf

Sorry for the typo am working by my self today and it's been hectic.
thank you

Depending how long ago it was that you saw this doctor, be aware that the records may have been destroyed by now. Under HIPAA you have the right to copies of your records, but only if they still exist. There's no way of knowing how long they will retain your records. State laws are all different, different hospitals and practices follow different rules to comply with their accrediting bodies as well. I always recommend that when you leave a medical provider's care, get copies of your records then and there, in case your doctor's office manager is an overzealous shredder.

They are also entitled to charge you a fee for the copies and what it might cost to mail them to you. They can also require you to request the records in writing rather than honoring a verbal request.




Mo: I hate "HIPPA" too! You'd be surprised at how many people in the medical field still don't get that right! And it's been what, 11 years now? And lots of them swear that one of the P's in "HIPPA" stands for Privacy.

This was in a medical newsletter:
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is having an identity crisis. Many people apparently think it should be abbreviated as HIPPA (think hippo) instead of HIPAA. A quick search of google for the word HIPPA produces 292,000 web pages, including pages for the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (where the misspelling appears once), the DC Dept. of Health (see the webpage title bar), and Jasper County, Iowa.

It's become such an issue that many sites refer to the Act as HIPAA (aka HIPPA). Woe to the statute that someone actually tries to abbreviate as HIPPA someday.

Betty, thanks, that's hilarious. I've also seen "HIPPA" in several respected periodicals. It's sad.

In trainings I like to say that "it's HIPAA, not HIPPA. It ends with AA,: think about how AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) is known for its confidentiality. Hippos, on the other hand, aren't known for their confidentiality."

Betty, thanks, that's hilarious. I've also seen "HIPPA" in several respected periodicals. It's sad.

In trainings I like to say that "it's HIPAA, not HIPPA. It ends with AA,: think about how AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) is known for its confidentiality. Hippos, on the other hand, aren't known for their confidentiality."

Both are funny posts!