As with almost all things healthcare related, the amount of money that healthcare providers are permitted to charge patients for a copy of their medical records is governed by regulations. Specifically, New Jersey regulations address what a hospital may charge patients and what "licensees," or people or entities who are licensed or authorized to engage in a health care profession regulated by the Board of Medical Examiners, may charge.
Hospitals:
The regulation provides, in relevant part, that if a patient requests a copy of his or her medical record, the hospital must provide the patient with a legible, written copy of the record at a fee based on actual costs within 30 days of the request. Thus, the fee charged for copying records may not exceed $1.00 per page or $100.00 per record for the first 100 pages. If the records contain more than 100 pages, the hospital may charge a copying fee of no more than $0.25 per page for pages in excess of the first 100 pages, up to a maximum of $200.00 for the entire record. A hospital may also charge a search fee of no more than $10.00 per patient per request, and for the actual costs of mailing the medical record to the patient.
Licensees and Non-Hospital Healthcare Facilities:
The regulation provides that a licensee or healthcare facility may charge a fee for the reproduction of records, but the fee may not exceed $1.00 per page or $100.00 for the entire record, whichever is less. Additionally, if the record requested is less than 10 pages, the licensee may charge up to $10.00 to cover postage and the miscellaneous costs associated with retrieval of the record.
Please note that federal HIPAA regulations also address fees that are permitted to be charged for copies of medical records. Those regulations state that a healthcare provider "may impose a reasonable, cost-based fee, provided that the fee includes only the cost of:
(i) Labor for copying the protected health information requested by the individual, whether in paper or electronic form;
(ii) Supplies for creating the paper copy or electronic media if the individual requests that the electronic copy be provided on portable media;
(iii) Postage, when the individual has requested the copy, or the summary or explanation, be mailed; and
(iv)Preparing an explanation or summary of the protected health information, if agreed to by the individual."
Arguably, pursuant to the above federal HIPAA regulation, healthcare providers cannot charge fees that are not cost-based. Consequently, even if a state statute would permit a healthcare provider to charge more than is reasonable and cost-based for medical records, such a state statute may be contrary to, and indeed preempted by, the federal HIPAA regulation.
If you have any questions regarding this article contact Aaron Rubin, Esq. at (609) 454-5351 or at arubin@barmak.com.
