obtaining medical records--advice from an attorney

[Guest guest]

I'm an attorney in NY for people with disabilities and I request and

obtain client medical records on a daily basis. There are several

things to do when a Dr. office is being uncooperative. I have

contacted Dr. offices to tell them that if we do not receive the

records by a certain date, we will ask a judge to issue a SUBPOENA

for the doctor to appear IN COURT, with a copy of the records and be

prepared to testify not only about the content of the records but

also about why the office did not produce them in a timely manner.

Once the office thinks that the doctor's schedule will be affected,

they might cough up the records really fast. I also find that if

you talk to the Dr. himself, he often has no idea that his staff has

been so rude or uncooperative. I have also had clients go into

doctors offices and say that they would not leave until they had the

records (so far, this has not caused major problems and it sometimes

gets the records). Also, they should not charge you more than 75

cents a page for records (NY law). Once in a while I find that if

Dr. office refuses to give records, it is because they have something

to hide. I am not a medical malpractice lawyer though.

Kerie