2019 maximum charges for copies of medical records in Florida

Florida recognizes that patients’ access to their medical records is important and necessary for continuity of care and urges health care providers to give patients a copy of their medical records at no cost, especially when the patient has limited means. In order to protect patients and enhance quality of care, Florida statutes and regulations define the maximum permitted costs for copies of medical records, x-rays, and insurance information under various circumstances as defined in this article.  

Continuity of care. Patients in Florida are not required to pay a fee for copies or searches of their records when the copy or search is done to assist in continued medical care.

Hospitals and licensed facilities. Florida law (F.S.A. § 395.3025) establishes that a licensed facility such as a hospital or a surgery center must timely provide (without delay for legal review) true and correct copies of all the patient’s records, including x-rays and insurance information, that are in the facility’s possession, to any patient (or a patient’s guardian, curator, personal representative, parent of a minor, authorized designee, or the next of kin of a decedent) that requests so post-discharge, provided the requestor agrees to pay a charge. 

The fees charged by the hospital or facility may not exceed the following: 

• $1 per page for paper records.
• $2 per page for non-paper records.
• $1 fee for each year of records requested.
• Actual costs (the cost of materials and supplies to duplicate the record and labor/overhead costs to do the duplication) for reproducing
  x-rays and other special kinds of records such as MRIs, CT-scans, etc.
• Postage and sales tax.

Health care practitioners (e.g., acupuncturists, chiropractors, dentists, naturopaths, optometrists, podiatrists, speech pathologists, etc.).  Section 456.057 of the Florida Statutes allows a health care practitioner to charge no more than the actual cost of copying the medical records, including reasonable staff time, or an amount designated by the provider’s regulatory board. 

Physicians and practitioners regulated by the Florida Medical Board. The Medical Board has outlined the reasonable costs of reproducing copies of written or typed documents in Rule 64B8-10.003 (Fla. Admin. Code r. 64B8-10.003):

Physicians and other medical providers under the jurisdiction of the Florida Medical Board can only charge patients and government entities the following reasonable costs: 

• $1 per page for the first 25 pages. 
• $0.25 per page for each page in excess of 25 pages.

The reasonable cost physicians can charge to all other entities is $1 per page of written or typed documents or reports.

Workers' compensation. Under Florida’s workers' compensation rules (Fla. Admin. Code r. 69L-7.601), health care providers and facilities may only charge injured individuals a fee up to $0.50 per page or the actual direct cost to the provider or facility for the reproduction of x-rays, micro-films, or other non-paper records.

If you have any questions about charges for copies of medical records in Florida or any other state such as Ohio, Illinois, or Michigan, please contact the attorneys below.