How to Request Your Billings Clinic Medical Records the Right Way

Documents, documents, documents. Operating in the world requires many documents, including medical records. But getting those documents always seems to be complicated, time-consuming, and difficult. Medical records are no exception.

Billings Clinic is a great resource for health care in Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The fact that Billings Clinic is a large, well-operated health system doesn't make requesting medical records any easier. Requesting medical records is difficult almost everywhere because health care providers have a duty to protect patient privacy.

However, patients have a right to their medical records. To access them, it is essential to request them the right way. DoNotPay has that covered. The Medical Record product can help you request medical records from any healthcare provider.

What is HIPAA? 

HIPAA is a law that allows patients to access their medical records. It is a large, complicated piece of legislation that affords many rights, including the right to patient privacy, and the right to access medical records.

Patient Privacy

HIPAA guarantees that providers will keep their patient's information private unless it is being used for patient care, payment, or other healthcare operations. According to the CDC, covered entities include healthcare providers and insurance companies, and their legally authorized business associates. 

Healthcare providers may need to disclose protected health information in other instances, such as when required by law. Also, HIPAA allows health care information to be disclosed to the individual. That means that HIPAA allows patients access to their own medical records.

Access to Medical Records

According to HIPAA, healthcare providers have between 30 and 60 days to provide patients with their own medical information, when requested. The time frame depends on where the records are stored.

But requests need to be made in the proper format. To protect records, doctors need to verify the identity of the requester, and requests need to contain the proper language and information.

Healthcare providers can charge a nominal fee to release the records.

Does Requesting Billings Clinic Medical Records Cost Money?

Physicians and healthcare providers are not allowed to charge for the cost of labor when sharing medical records with a patient. Even if healthcare employees need to search for a requested medical record, the labor used on searching for medical records does not get passed on to the patient. 

However, HIPAA does allow providers to charge for the following:

• Postage for medical records sent by mail
• Costs associated with copying the records
• Costs associated with the labor of copying the records

Fees are supposed to be "reasonable" and "cost-based" according to HIPAA.

However, not all healthcare providers charge for medical records. Billings Clinic delivers medical records at no cost to the patient.

Requesting Billings Clinic Medical Records on Your Own

Billings Clinic medical records requests need to be made by mail. Here's how:

1. Go to the Billings Clinic Medical Records website
2. Fill out the Release of Information Form found on the website

• Include your contact information
• Select which clinic your medical care occurred
• Choose the format you want the records delivered (electronic, disc, snail mail)

3. Mail your request to the address specified on the medical records website

Here is contact information to obtain your Billings Clinic Medical Records:

To request medical records from Billings Clinic, you'll need to take the time to fill out and mail the form, then wait at least 30 days. DoNotPay has a faster, easier way. They can even take care of the snail mail for you. 

Requesting Medical Records With DoNotPay 

DoNotPay has seen these requests before and knows how to write your health care provider a simple, clear, and effective letter that will get your legally-guaranteed health records for you in no time.

1. Look up medical records on DoNotPay's website.

    

2. Enter the name of the health care provider you'd like to receive medical records from.

    

3. Answer a few questions about your provider and where you'd like to send the records.

    

What Else Can DoNotPay Help With?

DoNotPay isn't just for medical records. There are many things that DoNotPay can help with, including:

DoNotPay makes requesting Billings Clinic medical records fast and easy. The service works with other healthcare providers, too. Just go through the same three steps for each new healthcare provider. You'll have the information in your hands in no time.