2017 update on maximum charges for copies of medical records in Ohio

March 3, 2017

Alert

Ohio law¹ establishes the maximum fees a health care provider or medical records company can charge for copies of a patient’s medical record. The law also provides for certain limited situations in which copies of records must be provided without charge – for example, when the records are necessary to support a patient’s claim for Social Security disability benefits. The fee schedule is updated annually.

The amount healthcare providers can bill for copies of a patient’s medical record depends on who the request comes from – the patient, the patient’s personal representative, or someone other than the patient or the patient’s personal representative. A patient’s “personal representative” can be a minor patient’s parent or other person acting in loco-parentis, a court appointed guardian, a person holding a durable health care power of attorney, the executor of the patient’s estate, or the person otherwise responsible for the patient’s estate if it is not to be probated. The spouse of a patient, the adult child of a patient, or the attorney for a patient is not, by that fact alone, deemed to be the patient’s personal representative for purposes of the charges listed below.

For 2017, the following maximum fees apply when the request comes from a patient or a patient’s personal representative:

No records search fee is allowed
For data recorded on paper or electronically: $3.11 per page for the first ten pages; $0.65 per page for pages 11 through 50; $0.26 per page for pages 51 and higher
For data resulting from an X-ray, MRI, or CAT scan recorded on paper or film: $2.13 per page
The actual cost of postage may also be charged

For 2017, the following maximum fees apply when the request comes from a person or entity other than a patient or a patient’s personal representative:

A $19.17 records search fee
For data recorded on paper or electronically: $1.26 per page for the first ten pages; $0.65 per page for pages 11 through 50; $0.26 per page for pages 51 and higher
For data resulting from an x-ray, MRI, or CAT scan: $2.13 per page
The actual cost of postage may also be charged

Visit the Ohio Department of Health website (www.odh.ohio.gov) for the official schedule. If you have any questions, please contact the attorneys listed below.

[1] Ohio Revised Code Section 3701-741

Over the past 24 months, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights has brought notable enforcement efforts against several non-profit covered entities and business associates, resulting in instances of six and seven-figure penalties against providers across the county for incidents involving breaches of protected health information.

A new amendment to New York state law, which would have required all healthcare providers to obtain separate consents from patients for treatment and payment is on hold until further guidance is released, according to the New York Department of Health.

On November 1, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule 2025 final rule, which establishes new advanced primary care management billing codes that will expand opportunities for physician practices, federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics and other health care providers to get paid for services provided by clinical staff under the direction of a physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant beginning January 1, 2025.

2017 update on maximum charges for copies of medical records in Ohio

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