I requested medical records (x-rays, pictures, 3d scans, procedure notes, and anesthesia records) from my old dentist. First by phone, then by email. They sent 1 day’s set of x-rays. I asked for the rest of my xrays and for the rest of information I requested. A week later they sent me 3 months/5 visits of xrays with all contextual information stripped, no dates, file names, or metadata.
It’s been about 45 days since I made my first in writing request. I wrote again today asking how I can get access to my medical records and asked if it would be easier if I came in and took pictures of it on the screen. They told me it would not be HIPPA compliant and they would get me the information. I followed up asking if the other media would contain the date it was created. No reply for almost an hour.
I looked up HIPPA to understand what I could request while waiting for their reply. Then instead of asking if it’d be easier if I drove over and took pictures, I affirmatively stated I wanted to view my PHI in person and take pictures using a smart phone to capture the information.
They then replied that they can’t pull electronic records with date information included. The options are a slew of emails with the date taken in the body section, or print outs with the date taken written above each image. They asked if anything was wrong and told me they would get me the information I requested.
I told them I requested this information over a month ago, that it was my third attempt to get the information. That their responses so far have been broadly incomplete and what information was provided was missing basic information like dates.
They sent a thumbs up and reiterated that they would be providing the requested information.
- Am I going about this all wrong? 2) Once I affirmatively request to view my PHI in person, can they counter-offer the request or otherwise ignore it? Is the expectation that I should repeatedly request an in-person viewing until they acknowledge the request?
File a complaint with OCR.
Here are your rights https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/guidance/access/index.html
Here is where you complain: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/index.html
thx
I’m guessing they do not want you to go in and take photos of the screen because they cannot control the safety of PHI of other patients - like if you go in behind the counter and somebody else’s profile was pulled up on another screen that ends up in your photo, or you rush to the keyboard and start flipping through records before they can stop you. It is reasonable to expect to receive copies of your PHI in paper or electronic (email? flashdrive?) form, I wouldn’t demand more.
What is odd is that the papers they have given you are missing dates. I am guessing this is not malicious intent to deceive on their part, but rather some odd deficiency with their computer system which they are too embarrassed/unable to explain. When it prints it doesn’t come out the way it shows on the screen. Given how they have tried to fix the problem by writing in the dates manually, they are not trying to hide the dates per se. I would just let it go and accept the papers as is, unless you have specific reason to believe the dates are incorrect. You could even ask them to write a statement at the bottom to the effect of “dates are correct as shown, written by hand to circumvent a computer problem” with the office signature/stamp. Then even if it comes to legal proceedings or whatever, the court can treat handwritten documents the same as printed ones.
HIPAA protects the patient, not the provider. If the patient willingly agrees to release of medical records, then it’s no longer an issue. They may require you to sign a release form first, which can also be done electronically. There’s no way they can’t pull electronic records without timestamp. That’s not PHI.
