How long does a doctor have to give you your medical records?

Answer 1

The below answer is incorrect. The below is the Federal Rule for medical records (and most states have their own rules, many being around 3 years) - billing is not considered part of the medical record, this is specifically stated in both Federal and State rules. There is not a requirement for retaining billing information, most practices do not keep copies of billing information more than 90 days.

Seven years for adults, and childrens' charts need to be kept until they are twenty one. Although many offices have switched them over to an image on their hard drive in order to save space. Some saves your data in back up servers. But, wherever you may have any kind of medical record, be sure that you have your own records kept for yourself too.

Answer 2

Answer:In America, the primary body of law covering timely release of Health Information (HI) is codified under HIPAA: the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (Kennedy/Kausebaum). HIPAA provides as follows:

• The Covered Entity (CE -- Healthcare provider, Payer, etc.) must respond with requested information within 30 days.

  • The information must be in a form the user requests, if that's feasible.

  • A cost-based fee may be applied, that includes only copying costs, postage (if applicable) and the cost for developing a list and explanation of included HI (again, if applicable and previously agreed to by the individual).

  • This cost must be reasonable and may not provide a barrier to the patient obtaining her HI.

  • The CE may not fail to provide the requested HI because of existing accounts receivable or monies owed by the patient.

• If some of the information the patient requests is not in the CE's possession, but may be obtained, the time allowance for that information is 60 days.

• If difficulties occur, the CE may receive a 30-day extension, if they perform the following actions:

  • Only one such extension is allowable.
  • The patient must be informed in writing of the reason(s) for this delay and the delivery time.
• If the CE denies the individual's request for HI, they must:
  • Indicate the reason for denial.
  • Inform the patient of their rights to obtain HI.
  • Inform the patient of where to complain, and how.
  • Inform the patient of the procedure to request a Review of Denial (in which the denial will be reviewed by another uninvolved healthcare professional).

Failure of the CE to follow this procedure lays the groundwork for a complaint under HIPAA, made to the Secretary of the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in Washington, DC. The Secretary will determine if a violation exists and, if one does, will determine the action taken by DHS, OCR, FTC, and/or Department of Justice. The individual may also have the basis for civil claims.

NOTE:

I've taken the unusual step of moving the first answer to this question down the page some. The reason is that, under American Law, their answer is incorrect, and this question gets asked a lot. Please accept my appologies for this unusual measure.

Source:

I've paraphrased a lot of this information. The original source is from HIPAA, Privacy Rule, Section: 162.526. I advise the interested to review the source material for greater insight, and to verify accuracy.

Original Answer:

Doctor has 36 hrs or three days to give you copy's of all of your medical records when u send him a certified letter demanding them in the next 36 hrs and you can also tell him that if they are not received with en this time that you will be taking him to court and that he will also be paying your lawyer and court cost . it does not matter if you cannot pay your bill it is hipa law that they must give you copy's of your records.

Answer 3

Federal law says 7 years

Answer 4

7 years.