Inpatient Facility Coding & Compliance Alert

Question: Our practice discharged a patient due to non-payment, and one week later a new provider requested the patient’s records from our office. My doctor wants to me to bill the patient for the records transfer. Is this something we can do?

Texas Subscriber

Answer: No, you cannot bill the patient, the other provider, or anyone else for a records transfer from one doctor to another. Regardless of the reason your provider is no longer seeing the patient, that patient is allowed to have her entire record transferred to another provider.

Here’s why: Under HIPAA, you’ll need to ensure that you are fulfilling the following requirements:

1. The patient must be able to easily request transfer of records to another provider or a copy for herself. Upon request, you must give the patient a copy of the full record in the HIPAA Designated Record Set.

2. If your practice uses an electronic medical records (EMR) system, you must provide a copy of the medical record in at least one readable electronic format, such as on a CD or via secure email. 

3. You have only 30 days to respond to and complete the request. You can ask for a one-time extension of 30 days if your practice provides a written explanation to the patient explaining the reason for the delay and the expected date of completion.

Remember: You also need to check your state laws, as some states have specific laws governing fees and timing for record transfers.