The Short Answer
To request your medical records, submit a written request to your healthcare provider and sign a HIPAA release form authorizing the disclosure. If you're the patient, you can request your own records directly. If you're acting on someone else's behalf, you'll need a power of attorney, legal guardianship, court order, or estate authority depending on the situation. In North Carolina, providers cannot charge more than 75 cents per page for the first 25 pages and 50 cents per page after that — so don't let high copy fees discourage you from getting what you're entitled to.
To review a possible medical malpractice case or nursing home injury or neglect case at Duncan Law we must have the injured person’s medical records reviewed by an expert witness. These are usually an expert nurse and/or a physician. For a medical expert to give a thorough review of your case it is important they have the opportunity to review the medical records.
To obtain a copy of the medical records you must request the records from the medical care provider. To provide these medical records to you, your health care provider must follow government privacy laws called HIPAA. HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
First, you must qualify to receive the medical records. If you are the patient requesting your medical records, you can sign a HIPAA release and receive your medical records. If you are not the patient, you must have a formal release signed by the patient or have the legal authority to obtain these records. The legal authority is usually granted by a power of attorney document properly executed by the patient (not just a hand written note signed by the patient). If the patient is incapacitated, you may have to obtain a legal guardianship or a court order to acquire the records. If the patient has died you must be the executor of their will or be appointed administrator of their estate by the clerk of the court or a judge.
Second, after qualifying to receive the medical records you should make a written request to the medical care provider to provide the medical records. The medical provider may have these records stored electronically offsite away from their physical location, so it may take several days to obtain these records. If the records are stored offsite, the medical care provider should provide the records to you within 10 calendar days.
If the records are available at the facility, they should be able to have a copy made for you within 24 hours of your request. Do not expect to walk into the medical facility and they make you copies while you wait.
When you request the records, the staff may ask you why do you want a copy of your medical records? First, you are not required to answer that question. It is your medical records and you do not have to answer that question. However, any time you ask for medical records, especially from a doctor’s office, it raises flags and alerts the doctor to a possible problem. The staff will usually inform the doctor or nursing home administrator of the request and they go into “defensive mode”. In the past, some medical providers have been known to illegally change the medical records to “cover up” a mistake they have made. Be aware this could happen. If the medical records are on site, you may ask the person in charge of medical records to pull the records so that you may look at the records on site before they are copied. Once you have reviewed the records, you may then ask for copies. After receiving the records, review the records and determine if any changes were made. If changes were made, notify your attorney immediately and dispute this with the medical facility.
Many medical providers will “discourage” you from obtaining the medicals by charging you an outrageous price per page to “copy” these medical records. Some providers will attempt to charge you a $1.00 per page. If you have 600 pages due to an extended hospital or nursing home stay that could become very expensive. Fortunately, in North Carolina, there is a state law that prohibits excessive copy fees. It is North Carolina General Statute 90?411, which states:
“A health care provider may charge a reasonable fee to cover the costs incurred in searching, handling, copying, and mailing medical records to the patient or the patient’s designated representative. The maximum fee for each request shall be seventy?five cents (75 cents) per page for the first 25 pages, fifty cents (50 cents) per page for pages 26 through 100, and twenty?five cents (25 cents) for each page in excess of 100 pages, provided that the health care provider may impose a minimum fee of up to ten dollars ($10.00), inclusive of copying costs.”
Once you’ve received your medical records contact your medical malpractice attorney or nursing home injury lawyer and provide them with the records so they can be appropriately reviewed.
Key Takeaways
- You must qualify to receive medical records — either as the patient, an authorized representative with a signed HIPAA release, or someone with legal authority such as a power of attorney or estate executor.
- Submit your request in writing; records stored offsite must be provided within 10 calendar days, and on-site records should be available within 24 hours.
- You are never required to explain why you want your own medical records, but be aware that any request — especially from a doctor's office — often puts the provider on alert.
- North Carolina law (N.C.G.S. § 90-411) caps medical record copy fees at 75 cents per page for the first 25 pages and 50 cents per page beyond that — providers cannot legally charge you $1 per page.
- If you suspect records have been altered after your request, notify your attorney immediately and formally dispute the changes with the facility.
- Reviewing records on-site before copies are made can help you detect whether any changes occurred after your request was logged.
Attorney Insight
The mistake I see most often is families assuming a handwritten note from a patient is enough to authorize a medical records request — it isn't. North Carolina requires a properly executed power of attorney or formal legal authority, and showing up with an informal note will get you turned away, costing you critical time in a potential case. I also tell every client: if you think there's been a medical error, ask to review the records on-site before copies are made. Once a provider knows a lawyer is involved, the window to see an unaltered record can close fast.
