OCR: Hospitals can charge patients more than $6.50 for medical records
The Health and Human Services Department’s Office for Civil Rights has said that healthcare providers and practices can charge more than the previously suggested $6.50 to give patients a copy of their medical records.
The clarification came in response to a set of guidelines issued earlier this year, the OCR stipulated that organizations covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 could only charge for copies of records within certain parameters, such as covering the cost of printing and mailing copies.
Charging a flat fee of $6.50 was merely a recommendation.
[Also: OCR unleashes second wave of HIPAA audits, will it diminish patients' privacy expectations?]
Providers are not shackled by that price limit. They are permitted to calculate the actual cost of electronic copies of records, and if they're permitted by the Privacy Rule —and deemed appropriate — they may charge more than the suggested rate.
OCR stated, however, that doctors and hospitals need to show that the actual cost is higher than $6.50 if they want to charge patients more.
The $6.50 guideline, OCR said, is "an option available to entities that do not want to go through the process of calculating actual or average allowable costs for requests for electronic copies of PHI (protected health information) maintained electronically."
OCR said in its guidelines that it would examine whether the fee was prohibitive to access of the requested records, and revisit the Privacy Rule from time to time for routine reassessment.
Twitter: @JELagasse
