Did You Know? You Have The Right To Access Your Health Information

How to get a copy of your medical records

Many people are not aware that they have a right to access their health information for such purposes as:

•     Viewing their medical information
•     Getting a copy of their medical records / billing records
•     Correcting inaccuracies in their medical file
•     Sending a copy of their medical records to a third-party

According to one government source, at least 27% of Americans do not know that they have a right to electronic copies of their medical records (as well as paper copies).

It is important to know what is in your medical record and to correct any errors or omissions. (See: The Problem with Problem Lists.) 

Know Your Patient Rights

These rights are part of The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). In most cases, your health provider must give you your records within 30 days. If your information is not maintained or accessible on-site, it may take up to 60 days. There are some exceptions that may require an extension, and in a few special cases, you may not be able to receive all of your information. For the finer points please see: Your Health Information Rights.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has a video series explaining your rights and how to receive a copy of your medical records at https://www.healthit.gov/access.


View all videos in the series



Lubin & Meyer PC
New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law
Attorneys practicing in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island

Rush Toward Electronic Health Records Raising Risks for Patients

An in-depth article in the Boston Sunday Globe on July 20, 2014, describes how financial incentives to hospitals and doctors offices to implement electronic health records (EHR) as part of the Affordable Care Act is creating an environment prone to medical errors resulting in serious risks to patients.

The article cites a study by CRICO which analyzed "a year’s worth of medical malpractice claims in its comparative database and found 147 cases in which EHRs were a contributing factor."

According to CRICO, common problems with faulty EHR systems include:

• Systems that don't "talk" to each other 
• Improper routing of test results 
• Data entry errors 
• Copy-and-paste errors 

The case highlighted in the Globe article involves a woman who died of an overdose at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Attorney Nicholas Cappiello of Lubin & Meyer is representing the family of the woman in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Cappiello contends that the nurses were "acting in response to multiple orders for insulin that had been entered into two separate prescribing systems used by the hospital — one digital, one involving paper and a fax — and were listed under the names of different doctors."

Said Cappiello, “The root cause is having two different systems that weren’t interacting with each other. It creates human error. Essentially, the right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing.”

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com
Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law. Attorneys practicing in MA, NH and RI.