How to Obtain Medical Records in California

California's Health Code ensures that all residents of the state have the legal right to obtain copies of their own medical records. Health care providers who fall under this legal obligation include hospitals, dentists, chiropractors and psychiatrists. According to the Medical Board of California, your patient records include "records relating to the health history, diagnosis, or condition of a patient, or relating to treatment provided or proposed to be provided to the patient." As a patient, you can obtain your medical records with relative ease in California, and you must pay only to reimburse the health care provider for the cost of the photocopies.

Things You'll Need

• Word processing software
• Printer
• Address of health care provider
• Payment for copies of records

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Instructions

• 1

  Choose a heath care provider from whom you want to get your medical records. Your medical records may be with an individual doctor, a hospital, or a Health Maintenance Organization.

• 2

  Decide if you want copies of the entirety of your medical records, or copies of a portion of them, and which portion you want you want. Your medical records may contain things like medications prescribed to you, your laboratory test results, the results of surgeries you underwent, and even genetic testing results.

• 3

  Write a request to your health care provider, asking for your medical records. You'll want to make sure you include identifying information like your name, date of birth, email address, postal mail address and telephone number in the request. If you know your medical number, add that as well. Most physicians' offices have an Authorization for Release of Protected Health Information form available for patient medical requests, either online or at their offices.

• 4

  Provide your health care provider with funds to cover the cost of copying your medical records. Medical professionals may charge as much as 25 cents per page copied from paper, and up to 50 cents per page for records they copy from microfilm.

• 5

  Expect to wait about two weeks to receive copies of your medical records. Under California law, your health care provider has 15 days after he or she receives your request to provide you with copies of the materials you want.

• 6

  File a complaint with the Medical Board of California if your health care provider does not comply with your request. Complaint forms are available at the Medical Board website.