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New guidelines nudge doctors on giving patients access to medical records

 
Published Jan. 17, 2016

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is tearing down barriers that make it difficult for patients to get access to their own medical records, telling doctors and hospitals that in most cases they must provide copies of these records within 30 days of receiving a request.

In theory, patients have long had a right to obtain copies of their records, but federal officials say they receive large numbers of complaints from consumers frustrated in trying to exercise that right.

In new guidelines, issued this month, the administration says doctors and hospitals cannot require patients to state a reason for requesting their records, and cannot deny access out of a general concern that patients might be upset by the information.

"Based on recent studies and our own enforcement experience, far too often individuals face obstacles to accessing their health information," said Jocelyn Samuels, the director of the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services, which enforces federal health privacy standards. "This must change."

Under the new guidelines, a health care provider cannot require patients to pick up their records in person if they ask that the records be sent by mail or email. A health care provider cannot deny a request for access to health information because a patient has failed to pay medical bills. A doctor or a hospital may charge a fee to cover the cost of copying, but cannot charge for the cost of searching for data and retrieving it.

Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, said consumers needed access to their records so they could "take more control over decisions regarding their health," follow treatment plans and correct errors in the files.

In addition, Collins said, some people want access to their records so they can contribute information to biomedical research projects like President Barack Obama's "precision medicine" initiative.

Researchers working on the project will collect data on the health, genetic characteristics and lifestyle habits of a million or more volunteers.

Melinda Hatton, a senior vice president of the American Hospital Association, said the guidelines were "a helpful reminder." Hospitals, she said, "strongly support patients' access to their medical records," and many have Web portals that let patients view information about their care.