How to Request DMC Medical Records the Easy Way

Getting your hands on your own medical records might be trickier than you think. Personal health records are closely guarded by hospitals and kept private for security reasons. In fact, a study conducted by researchers at Yale found that obtaining medical records from hospitals is unnecessarily difficult for the average American, and that many hospitals were noncompliant when providing information about those records.

Your right to access your medical records is protected by law under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) enacted in 1996. If you need to access any of your health documents currently being held by the Detroit Medical Center (DMC), you'll want to avoid a headache by brushing up on your rights and learning how to properly request DMC medical records. DoNotPay can walk you through the process step-by-step, and help you get a copy of your records in no time.

Why You Might Need Your DMC Medical Records

HIPAA was designed to prevent health care fraud and abuse, and provides guidelines for securing protected health information (PHI). HIPAA mandate 45 CFR § 164.524 ensures that you, as a patient, cannot be denied access to your own personal medical records and you may request them under the law at any time for any reason.

Here are some examples of why you might need to request medical records from Detroit Medical Center:

• Changing Medical Practices: Providing a new primary care physician in a different practice with your medical records is an essential way of communicating your health history and your personal needs.
• Seeing a Specialist: When your regular doctor needs a second opinion or recommends a specialist, you can speed up the process by sharing pertinent information from your records before a consultation.
• Moving to a New City: A transition to a new destination can be stressful enough without the hassle of scrambling for relevant medical records in the case of an emergency. Be prepared by requesting them ahead of time.
• Becoming a Caregiver: If you have taken on the responsibility of caring for a family member, you will need access to their medical records as part of your caregiving duties.
• Compiling a Medical History: Some families keep their own medical records for the purposes of tracking and monitoring genetic health issues.

Accessing the DMC Patient Portal: My Health Rec

Like most modern hospitals, Detroit Medical Center offers access to an online patient portal known as My Health Rec. A patient portal is a secure online website where you can view, download, and transmit some aspects of your health information from anywhere with an internet connection at any time, day or night. Although this is not the same as requesting full access to your medical health records, the DMC patient portal is helpful in many ways.

Here are some of the benefits of using My Health Rec from DMC:

• Pay your health bills online
• Access certain records such as immunizations, medications, and allergies
• Privately view some pathology, radiology and lab results
• Read procedure notes, discharge summaries, and consultation details
• Download health history records to share with your doctor

My Health Rec is available to any patient who has received services through any of the facilities at the Detroit Medical Center. If you need to enroll in the patient portal, you can do so by following steps for self-enrollment online, or you can ask for assistance at your next inpatient visit.

Formally Requesting Medical Records From Detroit Medical Center

Inevitably, there may come a time when you need to acquire formal copies of your official medical records from DMC. The patient portal may seem like a quick answer to receive your records electronically, but your online access is limited to your most recent patient data and may not be thorough enough for your needs.

Need help figuring out how to get your hands on your medical records? DoNotPay has done the homework for you.

How to Request DMC Medical Information

You have the right to request and obtain a more complete and comprehensive copy of your medical information, and DMC will only provide this after you have successfully submitted a medical records release form.

Here's what you'll need to do to complete your DMC medical records request:

1. Go online to access the DMC Authorization to Release Medical Information form.
2. Print a paper copy and fill out all necessary fields.
3. Be specific when it comes to the information you need, including the type of report needed and accurate dates of service.
4. Submit your completed form—either by fax or by mail—making sure to direct it to the proper Medical Records department of the hospital where you received care. (See list below.)
5. Depending on whether your records are physically on-site, it could take between 1-4 weeks for DMC to send you copies of your medical records via the US Mail.

Hospitals Included in the Detroit Medical Center

The Detroit Medical Center is a for-profit alliance which encompasses a total of eight hospitals and is the largest healthcare provider in Southeast Michigan. When you submit your medical records request, make sure you accurately identify which hospital performed the service indicated on your form, otherwise your authorization request will be invalid.

Here's a list of DMC hospitals and how to contact their Medical Records departments:

Get Your DMC Medical Records the Easy Way With DoNotPay

It's our goal at DoNotPay to help you find answers to life's problems and solve issues that you can't tackle alone. Obtaining medical records is a prime example of a necessary task that should be easy but is actually quite difficult. DoNotPay can help you answer questions like, "How long are medical records kept?"

We also can give you straightforward instructions for obtaining your private health information from dozens of hospitals and providers, including:

• Mercy Hospital
• Baptist Health
• Cleveland Clinic
• Kaiser Permanente

Here's the best news—DoNotPay is an expert at crafting professional and effective request letters, and we will write to your health care provider on your behalf to request your legally-guaranteed health records in a snap. Here's the no-nonsense way to request medical records from DMC—or any hospital—with the help of DoNotPay:

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.

Yes, it really is that easy!

DoNotPay Doesn't Do It All—But We Come Close

The services and products offered by DoNotPay are wide-reaching and helpful beyond belief. We understand that the world can be a convoluted place, and everyone deserves a little help now and then. In the world of healthcare alone there can be many challenges one might face, like obtaining a birth certificate to requesting sick leave to handling an advance health care directive.

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If you like what you see and you want to discover more, sign up now to access all that DoNotPay has to offer!