Ask For A Copy Of Your Health Records

(NC)—Whether it's organized neatly in a file or stuffed in a shoebox, people can usually find their own financial paperwork. But when it comes to our health records, who owns them, and how do we get a copy?

That's important to know. Consider just some reasons why you might want to get those records from a health care provider or institution:

• New provider: You're switching care providers and need to forward the information.

• Easy reference: You want to read and understand them privately, consolidate records from various providers/facilities in one place, or provide the details to other family members.

• Questions about care: You have a concern about your care, want to check or confirm the accuracy of the information, or you're involved in a legal proceeding around your care.

“The reasons don't matter—what matters is that you have the right as a health care consumer to ask for a copy of your record,” says Linda Gough, president of the Federation of Health Regulatory Colleges of Ontario (FHRCO). (For more on being an informed health care consumer, visit www.regulatedhealthprofessions.on.ca and look under “about your care”.)

FHRCO is made up of Ontario's 26 health regulatory colleges, which govern more than 260,000 health professionals. The colleges hold their members accountable for their conduct and practice, and support your right to safe, competent and ethical health care.

Accessing your health records is a right too. Health records belong to the provider or hospital that created them, but the information in them belongs to you. Whoever holds the record must provide a copy to you upon request, and in a timely manner. The same right of access applies to electronic health care records.

Individual providers or institutions may charge you a reasonable fee to reflect the cost of preparing and forwarding the material.

Interest in all sorts of accessible health records is growing. In fact, Canada Health Infoway (an independent organization funded by the federal government) recently certified an application calledmihealth. The personalized web portal allows patients to enter, track and access health data such as drug histories, lab test results, allergies, etc.

“As Canadians continue to become more engaged in their care, they're interested in viewing the information in their records,” says Gough. “That can be an important part of taking charge of their health.”

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