| access
to records, right to (Florida)
Any licensed health
care practitioner or records
owner must make available copies of all reports
and records related to a person's examination or treatment,
"in a timely manner, without delays for legal review,"
upon request of the person or the person's legal representative.
(FL Stat 456.057)
When a patient's
psychiatric, psychological, or psycho-therapeutic records
are requested by the patient or the patient's legal representative,
the health care practitioner may provide a report of examination
and treatment in lieu of copies of records. Upon a patient's
written request, complete copies of the patient's psychiatric
records must be provided directly to a subsequent treating
psychiatrist.
The furnishing
of such report or copies may not be conditioned upon payment
of a fee for services rendered. A health care practitioner
or records owner furnishing copies of reports or records,
or making the reports or records available for digital scanning,
may not charge more than the actual cost of copying, including
reasonable staff time, or the amount specified in administrative
rule by the appropriate licensing board.
Records owners must place an advertisement in the local newspaper
or notify patients in writing when terminating practice, retiring
or relocating and no longer available to patients, and offer
patients the opportunity to obtain a copy of their medical
record.
Records owners
must also notify the appropriate licensing board office when
they are terminating practice, retiring, or relocating, and
no longer available to patients, specifying who the new records
owner is and where medical records can be found.
Whenever a records
owner has turned records over to a new records owner, the
latter is responsible for providing a copy of the complete
medical record upon written request of the patient or the
patient's legal representative.
A person or entity
may be appointed as a custodian of medical records in the
event of the death, mental or physical incapacitation, or
the abandonment of medical records by a practitioner. The
appointed custodian must comply with all records access provisions.
Records of a deceased
or relocated practitioner must be retained for at least two
years after the practitioner's death, termination of practice,
or relocation. In the case of death, administrative rules
must provide for the disposition of such records by his/her
estate. (456.058)
As with other health
privacy provisions, separate statutory provisions (in chapter
395) address patient access to the records kept by hospitals,
ambulatory surgical centers and similar facilities. (See chapter
395, esp. 395.3025)
Those licensed
facilities must provide upon written request "in a timely
manner, without delays for legal review" a "true
and correct copy" of all patient records for any person
admitted and treated therein, subsequent to the person's discharge.
The records copy
may be provided to the records subject; to his/her guardian,
curator, or personal representative; to the next of kin (if
a decedent); or to anyone designated by the records subject
in the written request. Records of minors may be released
to a parent.
The person requesting
the copies must agree to pay a reproduction fee, which may
not exceed $1 per page for paper records, and $2 per page
for nonpaper records; sales tax and actual postage may also
be charged. A fee of up to $1 may be charged for each year
of records requested. These charges apply to all records furnished,
whether directly from the facility or from a copy service
providing these services on its behalf.
A patient whose
records are copied or searched for the purpose of continuing
to receive medical care is not required to pay a charge for
copying or for the search.
The facility must
allow persons to examine original records in its possession,
or microforms or other suitable reproductions of the records,
under reasonable terms to assure that the records will not
be damaged, destroyed, or altered.
Note that these
provisions do not apply to records maintained at any licensed
facility "the primary function of which is to provide
psychiatric care to its patients," or to records of treatment
for any mental or emotional
condition at any other licensed facility (governed by 394.4615).
Neither do they apply to records of substance
abuse impaired persons (governed by 397.501).
See also:
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