POLICY REGARDING MEDICAL RECORD TRANSFERS

1. For records to patients, or to another physician for transfer of care, a filing and clerical fee of $15 will apply to all record transfers:
   
   
The last two years of records will be provided without a per page charge.
Records prior to the last two years will be provided at $0.25 per page.
We reserve the right to charge actual postage.


2. For attorneys or insurance companies requesting records a filing and clerical fee of $25 will apply to all record transfers:


Only the clerical fee if they do their own copying.
A $0.25 per page fee for records to be copied.
A $0.10 per page fee for records to be faxed.

*Section 123110 of the California Health & Safety Code specifically provides that any adult patient, or any minor patient who by law can consent to medical treatment, or any patient representative is entitled to inspect patient records upon written request to a physician and upon payment of reasonable clerical costs to make such records available. The physician must then permit the patient to view his or her records during business hours within five working days after receipt of the written request. One other person of his or her choosing may accompany the patient or patient's representative.

The patient or patient's representative is entitled to copies of all or any portion of his or her records that he or she has a right to inspect, upon written request to the physician, along with a fee to defray the cost of copying, not to exceed 25 cents per page or 50 cents per page for records that are copied from microfilm, along with reasonable clerical costs. Physicians must provide patients with copies within 15 days of receipt of the request.

A physician may prepare a summary of the record for inspection and copying by a patient rather than allowing access to the entire record. This summary must be made available to the patient within 10 working days from the date of the patient's request. If more time is needed, the physician must notify the patient of this fact and the date that the summary will be completed, not to exceed 30 days between the request and the delivery of the summary.

Section 123100 establishes a patient's right to see and receive copies of his or her medical records. The law only addresses the patient's request for copies of his or her own medical records and does not cover a patient's request to transfer records between health care providers or an attorney's requests for records in connection with a medical malpractice case.