OT- Medical records transfer | Arthritis Information

Hi -hoping for some guidance from all of you who work in the medical profession-

My husband had ringing in his ear for a couple of days and went to an ENT that he had never been to before.

He wasn't happy with her.

To make a very long story short he wants to go to another doctor and made an appt. Since she performed some tests on him they asked him to have her send the records.

He called to have them faxed over and they said absolutely not- he has to come in personally and pay for them.

Is this legit?

Hmm...doesn't sound good to me. My records have always been tranfered. I have never heard of that.

Today I had some medical records sent from one doc's ofc to another. They asked me to come in to sign a release form, but I have a fax machine, so was able to receive and return the signed form via fax. They did not charge me.

Some docs may charge for photocopying or for "handling." How much were they asking? I'm guessing your insurance paid for the tests, so you should have access to copies of the results.

Good luck, I hope it all gets straightened out satisfactorily.

a release form needs to be signed but records being transferred from one drs office to another should be at no cost to the patient. Its only records given to the patient directly that they can charge for.

So have him fax a release to the dr A asking for a transfer of records to Dr b..or better yet drop the transfer requst to dr b and let them do the actually requesting

He asked for them to fax the release form and that was when he was told he had to come in personally and pay for them. I told him to ask Dr. B to do it and he said forget he'll just cancel the appt. I said you can't do that you need to find out what is wrong. He said I can do whatever I want. So I washed my hands of the situation.If you go in to sign/pick up records they can charge you. Fax them a signed release letter telling them to send your records to Dr. So and So.....I've only ever had to sign a release of information paper and that was it. I was also under the assumption that your records pertaining to your health were your property in the end. That kind of makes sense to me in a weird way but I didn't really stay awake too long when we were being lectured on HIPAA regulations in class. I do know that in the lab the patient just has to sign the release of info paper and indicate if the records are to be released to themselves or another doctor. After that I just call up the results and print them.

Bob H.

maybe if the new ENT will ask for them he won't have to pay. I have personally never had to pay, just go in and sign or fax dr. office a signed release form. It's not even the money- with fax machines available why should you have to get in your car and waste the time and gas?Anymore so many test results are "on line". Meaning all your doctors can see your test results. I hope this is the case here. This type of situation makes me very angry--like they are holding your records hostage. [QUOTE=wanttobeRAfree]Hi -hoping for some guidance from all of you who work in the medical profession- [/QUOTE]

Well my husband is being stubborn. I told him to have the new doctor request them because if he goes and he wants to repeat the tests because he has nothing to go on maybe insurance won't pay a second time. That's when he said he'll just cancel the appointment.

This first doctor was a little over the top I think..he presents with ringing in the ear and it feels like it is closing up. She looks inside and does some tests (what kind- I don't know) and says she sees he has wax in the ear- maybe this will help. He said he does't know what she means by that because he doesn't think she did anything after that.

She then writes him a prescrip for blood tests- Lymes, RF, ANA, ESR- and a few I don't remember but I do remember getting these tests before my dx of RA. I asked him had he complained about anything besides his ear and he said no.

She prescribed him 40 mgs per day of prednisone for 2 weeks and then a taper.

She prescribed him Valtrex and never said- do not be alarmed this is a medicine used for Genital Herpes but it is also used as an anti viral ocassionally for ear infections. I almost flipped out when I saw that- I had to scour the internet to find that it is used for an ear infection (rarely).

Also prescribed a MRI of the brain and audio ear canal. Just got some random letter from an imaging center located across the country that says Aetna authorized to pay...

Now what is it? Ear Wax? Autoimmune? A virus? A tumor? Wouldn't you try and treat for the most likely problem and then continue to go down the line?

You would think they would do the obvious like the ear wax before they do the mri that is very expensive. I need to get a new rd and I hope I don't have to go in or pay for my records. That will really tick me off! How much do they charge? I think it's your records they should belong to you and why can't we get online and view them? The dr can so why can't we????

Somethings just make no sense whatsoever!CinDee- At my first RD I remember people going up to the desk and asking for copies of (I'm not sure what of) but they were told they could have them for a piece. I left that practice for a multitude of reasons but my new RD requested my records and they had to send something like 40 pages worth to the disability office and I never got a bill for it....So, it probably depends on the doc? Mine will probably charge just cuz' I fired him and I wasn't nice about it. LOLthe way I understand it, if you ask for records, you have to pay something like per page, but if the dr's office calls the other dr for a copy of records they fax them as a professional courtesy. Just my experience though...Every state has their own amount of money that they can collect for copy fees. Go online. Some doctors will not charge their own patients for copying fees if it's a one or two time request. Trust me, we have some patients that want copies all the time sent to them or 5 or 6 doctors. I charge them. It's expensive to copy and mail. As far as faxing, personally I don't like my records being faxed. You'd be surprised how many times people fax things to the wrong office.

p.s. - I was awake during that part of HIPPA - Doctors are allowed to charge....again, each state has their own regulations as to how much.