Patient Right of Access
&
Fee Transparency Notice
Patient Right of Access & Fee Transparency Notice
Our organization is committed to providing you with clear, transparent, and timely access to your health records. In accordance with North Carolina State Law (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-411) and upcoming Federal HIPAA Privacy Rule transparency guidelines, we provide multiple pathways to ensure you know exactly what to expect regarding fulfillment fees.
Estimated Fee Schedule (Current Rates)
Below is our current estimated fee schedule for medical record replication and delivery, governed by North Carolina state statutory caps and federal cost-based labor rules.
NORTH CAROLINA The maximum fee for each request shall be $0.75 per page for the first 25 pages, $0.50 per page for pages 26 to 100 $0.25 for each page in excess of 100 pages
The health care provider may impose a minimum fee of up to $10.00, inclusive of copying costs.
Fees are inclusive of searching, handling, copying, and mailing medical records to the patient or the patient's designated representative.
A reasonable professional fee charged by a physician for the review and preparation of a narrative summary of the patient's medical record.
Source: NC Gen Stat § 90-411 (2014)
https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_90/GS_90-411.html
§ 90-411. Record copy fee. A health care provider may charge a reasonable fee to cover the costs incurred in searching, handling, copying, and mailing medical records to the patient or the patient's designated representative. The maximum fee for each request shall be seventy-five cents (75¢) per page for the first 25 pages, fifty cents (50¢) per page for pages 26 through 100, and twenty-five cents (25¢) for each page in excess of 100 pages, provided that the health care provider may impose a minimum fee of up to ten dollars ($10.00), inclusive of copying costs. If requested by the patient or the patient's designated representative, nothing herein shall limit a reasonable professional fee charged by a physician for the review and preparation of a narrative summary of the patient's medical record. Charges for medical records and reports related to claims under Article 1 of Chapter 97 of the General Statutes shall be governed by the fees established by the North Carolina Industrial Commission pursuant to G.S. 97-26.1. This section shall not apply to Department of Health and Human Services Disability Determination Services requests for copies of medical records made on behalf of an applicant for Social Security or Supplemental Security Income disability. (1993, c. 529, s. 4.3; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 679, s. 5.5; 1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 742, s. 36; 1997-443, ss. 11.3, 11A.118(b); 2019-191, s. 42.)
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Individualized Fee Estimates
You have the right to request a customized, good-faith estimate of the total expected costs for your specific request before we process it. If you are requesting an unusually large volume of pages or historical files, please check the "Request a Cost Estimate" box on your records release form, and our Health Information Management (HIM) team will provide a personalized estimate.
Fully Itemized Billing
For any completed record request that incurs a fulfillment fee, you will receive a fully itemized invoice. This invoice breaks down the precise cost factors involved—including actual cost-based clerical labor, digital/paper media supplies, or postage—so you can see exactly how the total was calculated.
RHCC contracts with a Third-Party Vendor to fulfill the majority of the HIPAA PHI requests. The agency is currently Verisma and is HIPAA compliant with the NC Gen Stat § 90-411 (2014) fee schedule. In addition, RHCC also complies with the same NC Gen Stat § 90-411 (2014) fee schedule and will align with any future changes in accordance with these NC General Statues for HIPAA compliance. Should the vendor of choice change, any new vendor will be in compliance as the laws change.