A Patient’s Guide to Medical Records Copying Fees

State and federal regulations on the cost of copying medical records ensure they're available at an affordable level for patients while reimbursing medical practices for copying costs.

Overview
The Pennsylvania Medical Society receives a significant number of inquiries from patients concerning medical record copying fees. While physicians have not traditionally sought to make a profit on providing medical records, they have sought to recover their costs. This is permissible by law.

Both state and federal governments have set rules on the cost of copying medical records to make sure they are available at an affordable level for patients while providing some reimbursement to medical practices for the cost of copying records.

Copying a medical record, particularly that of an older adult who has been to the doctor many times, can take an hour or more. 

Your request for your medical record
You have the right to request a copy of your medical record for your use.

It's important to note that the medical record for a patient is defined by state regulation as all “clinical information pertaining to the patient which has been accumulated by the physician, either by himself or through his agents.”

This includes:

  • Diagnostic test results
  • Physician notes
  • X-rays
  • Any records from prior treating or consulting physicians
You are not entitled to the original record. Please remember physicians (and other health care providers) are required by law to keep patient records for a set period of time, so they take maintenance of these records very seriously. 

Considerations and 2008 copying fees
The US Department of Health and Human Services has stated that, under federal regulations known as HIPAA, medical record copying fees for individual patients may not include costs associated with searching for and retrieving the medical record. For subpoenas, attorney or insurance company requests, however, physicians may charge the Act 26 fees, including the search and retrieval fee.

The 2008 medical records reproduction fee schedule is effective Jan. 1, 2008. The following charge list does not apply to an X-ray or any other portion of a medical record that is not susceptible to photostatic reproduction. 

  Act 26 (2008)   HIPAA       Charge to Patient 
Retrieval Fee   $19.00 $0  $0 
 Pages 1-20  $1.28/page  Cost of copying & mailing  Cost up to $1.28/page
 Pages 21-60  $.95/page  Cost of copying & mailing  Cost up to $.95/page
 Pages 61+  $.32/page  Cost of copying & mailing  Cost up to $.32/page

In addition to the amounts listed, charges may also be assessed for the actual cost of postage, shipping and delivery of the requested records.

Neither Act 26 nor HIPAA mandates that charges be assessed for copies of medical records. It merely sets the maximum fees that can be charged.

Other requests for medical records
Doctor’s offices must follow different rules when copying medical records for the government or for insurance companies as opposed to individual patients. For instance, district attorneys pay a flat fee of $18.54.

Some insurers may require the physician to forward patient records to another physician within a network at no charge. In the instance of Medicare and Medicaid, medical records must be forwarded without charge.

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