Getting Your Medical Records in New York

Why bother before you need them

A second opinion is only as good as the file it reads. Without prior imaging and lab results, the second clinician either guesses or repeats tests you already paid for.

Billing disputes turn on the record. A line item for a service you don’t remember is an argument; the same line next to a visit note that doesn’t mention it is a finding.

Appeals require clinical facts. When a plan denies something as not medically necessary, the record is what the appeal is built from. How appeals work.

Changing doctors without records means starting over. New Yorkers move practices often — insurance changes, practices close, a specialist retires. The file should follow you.

How to request

Ask the practice or hospital for its medical records request form, usually handled by a health information management or medical records department. Larger systems accept requests through a patient portal, which is faster.

Be specific about what you want:

“I’m requesting a complete copy of my medical record, including visit notes, test results, imaging reports, medication lists and discharge summaries, for the period [dates]. Please send it electronically if possible.”

Choose electronic delivery where offered. It’s faster, usually cheaper, and easier to forward to another clinician.

Imaging is separate. Radiology images often come from the imaging department rather than the treating office, and you may need to request both the images and the written report.

When it stalls

Requests do get slow. Escalation in order:

1. Follow up in writing to the records department, referencing the date of your original request.
2. Ask for the practice’s patient advocate or office manager, and put the same request to them.
3. Complain to the New York State Department of Health, which takes complaints about facilities, or to the federal Office for Civil Rights, which handles access rights.

Keep the paper trail from the first request. It is what turns a complaint into a case.

What to do with them once you have them

Read them. Errors in medical records are common: a condition you don’t have, an allergy that isn’t yours, a medication you stopped years ago. Each one can affect future treatment.

Ask for corrections in writing. You have the right to request an amendment. If the provider disagrees, you can have your statement of disagreement added to the file.

Keep your own copy somewhere you can reach it — a folder, a drive, anywhere that isn’t only inside one practice’s portal. Portals are convenient until a practice closes and the portal goes with it.