How to Request Tallahassee Memorial Hospital Medical Records

Your medical record is a valuable collection of your personal health history consisting of physician encounters, prescribed medications, test results, and insurance and financial information. For this reason, it's critical that this sensitive information be released only to authorized parties, such as other medical providers involved in your care and your health insurance company. However, there will be times when you will need to request your own medical records from previous hospital stays.

This article will describe how you can request your medical records from Tallahassee Memorial Hospital in Florida. Florida law requires that the hospital retain your medical records for a minimum of seven years, giving you plenty of time to obtain them for various reasons.

Sometimes navigating today's intricate network of administrative medical offices can be a difficult task. As you will soon discover, DoNotPay can help you with your medical records request from many health systems including Kaiser Permanente, Mercy, Baptist, and Cleveland Clinic.

HIPAA and Your Rights to Access Your Health Information

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was signed into law in 1996 to ensure that health care information is not disclosed to providers and businesses without the patient's consent. The act also ensures that you or your personal representative have the right to access your own medical records.

While the privacy rule doesn't require a health care provider or plan to share your information with family or friends, they must do so if they are your personal representatives. Providers can also share your health information with family or friends under the following circumstances:

• They are involved in your care or payment for the care.
• You inform the health provider that they can share the information with them.
• You don't object to your information being shared.
• A provider or plan can use their judgment if they believe you would not object.

When You May Need Your Medical Records From Tallahassee Memorial Hospital

Here are a few common reasons why you may need to request a copy of your hospital's medical records.

How to Obtain Copies of Your Tallahassee Memorial Hospital Records

You or your personal representative can request a copy of your medical records through the hospital's online request system. The records can be sent to you via email or mailed to your physical address. You will be required to verify your identity with your driver's license to complete the request. representatives may need supporting documentation to complete the request. Follow the steps given below to get started.

1. Navigate to the Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare medical records request site.
2. The page will inform you to have your photo ID ready along with your mobile phone nearby. Click Got it.
3. Click Tallahassee Memorial Hospital as the location you are requesting the records from.
4. Continue to complete the prompts as directed. These will include your email address, full name, mailing address, date of birth, and the specific records you are requesting. You will be asked to upload your driver's license or other government photo ID.
5. The hospital's medical records staff will review your request and respond within seven days.

You may also download and complete an authorization form for the release of information to mailing to the hospital at the address below:

Medical Records Department

Tallahassee Memorial Hospital

1300 Miccosukee Road

Tallahassee, FL 32308

For more information, call the hospital's Medical Records Department at 850-431-5339

How Much Does It Cost to Obtain Medical Records

Though obtaining your medical records is important for many reasons, they are not released without a price. Each state sets its own maximum costs for the records.

In the State of Florida, the first 25 pages are not to exceed $1.00 per page. For each page in excess of 25 pages, the maximum cost is .25 per page. A fee of up to $1 may be charged for each year of records requested.

Tallahassee Memorial Hospital's charges are .12 per page. A flat rate of $6.50 is charged for electronic medical records delivered via email or shipped as a USB device.

However, Florida Statute explicitly states that if the patient is requesting the records for the purpose of continuing to receive medical care, they are not required to pay a charge for the search or the copying of records.

Medical Record Information That is Restricted From Release

Tallahassee Memorial Hospital as well as other hospitals may restrict the release of specific information from the medical record, such as the following:

• Any psychotherapy notes that document or analyzes the patient's counseling session. These are maintained separately from the rest of the patient's medical records.
• Information from the record that is compiled in expectation of a civil, criminal, or administrative action.
• Certain quality assessment and patient safety activity records.
• Reports such as provider peer reviews or performance evaluations that were generated from the patient's medical records.

How DoNotPay Can Help You Get Your Tallahassee Memorial Hospital Medical Records

Navigating the lengthy procedures involved in getting your medical records can be frustrating. Fortunately, DoNotPay streamlines this process by sending a letter on your behalf to your provider or hospital requesting copies of the records.

Here is how to request your medical records using 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.

What Else Can DoNotPay Do?

In addition to helping you obtain copies of your medical records, DoNotPay also has solutions including the following:

• Obtaining a birth certificate
• Find unclaimed money
• How to request sick leave
• Getting help with bills
• Cancel any service or subscription

These are just a few of the many ways DoNotPay cuts through red tape to save you time and money. DoNotPay's vast library of step-by-step guides helps you bypass lengthy processes to get the answers you need fast.