Need a copy of your medical record? Be prepared to pay

Recently I can became aware of the price for a few pieces of paper after receiving rejections from the insurer on physician visits and ancillary services (radiology, labs).

The initial request by Blue Cross was for our physicians to send medical records directly to Blue Cross. Both providers did so after we signed a record release (HIPPA), and without a charge.

After waiting the prescribed time period, we were told by Blue Cross that the records were probably somewhere in the Blue Cross system but without a letter stating the specific reason for sending them along with the records they had no way of assigning to a patient. We still don't know where those specific records are: an employee home, the shredder, in a file somewhere, they couldn't tell us.

In order to get our case reviewed for payment, which in our case is application to our high deductible, we had to order the medical records be sent again, except this time we needed them in our hands so we could attach a letter. We contacted the providers again, (one at a practice and another that is a hospital managed office) and were told it would be $26 at one office and $25 at another for a copy given to the patient. Let me repeat - free if sent to the insurance provider, $25 if given to you.

The medical record at the first provider was 6 pages (4 pages were labs), the other about 12 (again - mostly labs). So for 18 pages of information - it was $51 or a cost of $2.83 a page. The fee was not based on how many pages, but a flat fee.

It takes about 10 seconds to copy a page if you are doing it manually, and if you have a higer end copier - about 10 seconds total for the entire chart. Time to pull the chart - about 3o seconds. Total max time: 1 to 2 minutes. At the rate of $26 for 2 minutes - that would be $780 an hour (30 records copied @ $26).

So besides the hassle of being rejected, the hours spent on the phone trying to understand why, and all the other obstacles - we are now being charged extraordinary fees when trying to get our own medical records. It just doesn't seem right to be charged for a copy of the same medical records that are given as a courtesy to the insurance plans.

What do you think?