ByGetting Your Electronic Health Records Quickly: DoNotPay as Your Solution
Acquiring your EHRs () is perhaps a top priority right now if you've switched doctors, or just need quick medical information. Acquiring those medical records can sometimes become a protracted process, despite the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ensuring you have the right to access them.
How can you make this process go faster if you're short of time? Our app at DoNotPay helps you gain faster access. Let us show you how.
HIPAA and Your Right to Access Health Information
No doubt you're familiar with HIPAA, or The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. When this was enacted in 1996, it allowed any patient to gain access to their health information whenever they needed it without delays.
The mandate 45 CFR § 164.524 is what allows you to gain access to your health records immediately for your own benefit. Being able to monitor your EHRs, in particular, helps you keep tabs on any health conditions you have. Plus, it can help with any future treatment plans, not including scoping out errors that might be in the database.
Being able to access your health records digitally is even more important for the information on the go. No doubt you wonder how you gain access to EHRs in a hurry if you need them.
How to Gain Access to Your EHRs
The first thing to do is to contact your local hospital or clinic where your health records are stored. They usually don't delay getting those records to you if you need them in physical form. However, the process of acquiring them could take some time.
You'll have to sign authorization forms as just starters, not including providing all personal information proving your identity. It works the same online if you prefer just having access to your EHRs, which are often accessible through patient portals.
A few things you need to remember to bring when you sign up to gain access to your EHRs:
- Your Social Security number.
- Your insurance number or other ID proving a connection to the hospital/clinic.
- Your date of birth.
- A list of the records you need to acquire.
Why Might You Need Access to Your EHRs?
Along with the reasons listed above, various other circumstances exist for why accessing your is an important medical choice. A few include:
- Being able to better monitor chronic health conditions.
- Better tracking of health wellness programs in your career.
- Be able to contribute personal health information to help with medical research.
- Have access to medical info when switching providers for yourself, children, or relatives.
| How Much Does it Cost to Access Your EHRs? | It should be free for EHRs, though if you want physical copies to go into your records, many hospitals do charge a fee per page. Contact your local hospital or clinic in your state to find out what that fee might be.
According to Very Well Health, most states charge at least $1 per page to print your copies. For copies of imaging tests, fees could be much more. These sometimes go up to over $100, depending on the complexity of the image and what you need for your files. |
| What Type of EHRs Might Be Restricted for Release? | Very few exceptions exist for the type of EHRs you're entitled to gain access to. While you're generally not allowed to be privy to notes a therapist or psychiatrist has on you, all your other medical information should be made accessible without delays.
Once in a while, you might encounter a delay if your healthcare provider happened to move and didn't save some of your records. |
Gain Quicker Access to Your EHRs Using Our DoNotPay App
As you can see, it can take time to gain access to your EHRs. When you're pressed for time and need them now, having to fill out forms and wait on the phone is not what you want. Our DoNotPay app helps you attain your EHRs faster since we do the work for you.
We make this work using these three simple steps:
- Look up medical records on DoNotPay's website.
- Enter the name of the health care provider you'd like to receive medical records from.
- Answer a few questions about your provider and where you'd like to send the records.
And that's it! We'll create a letter for you to send to your healthcare provider requesting your EHRs. Just imagine how much time that saves you having someone like us do most of the work. It succeeds thanks to our artificial intelligence technology, helping you get things done faster.
DoNotPay Works With Other Companies at the Click of a Button
Not only do we help you acquire your EHRs, but we can help you solve issues with just about any company or corporation. If you need your EHRs in other states, we'll help you acquire EHRs from:
What Else Can DoNotPay Do for You?
Using our AI technology, our DoNotPay app can also help you solve many issues ranging from small claims lawsuits to help you pay your bills. Visit us to learn more about our comprehensive features.