Federal Laws regarding patient medical records release

[Guest guest]

I just had my first medical assessment with my new doctor. Prior to the visit, I

signed release forms for all of my pertinent doctors, so that this new doctor

would have records on me.

I had also provided the doctor with lots of old records that I had copies of,

but during the appt., I noticed that my neurologist had sent a huge stack of

paperwork on me. When I reviewed it with the physician, I noticed that there was

not only records from UTSW, but

also records from previous OBs, GPs, etc.

Since I did not have copies of my medical records from my neuro, I asked the

Operations Mgr to make me a copy of my records from him. She said that due to

federal law, she could not do that, and that I would have to go straight to UTSW

on my own to obtain these.

I was perplexed by this, as it doesn't seem logical that I just asked UTSW to

send my personal info to DH, but I can't get a copy of these unless I repeat the

whole process on my own.

When I called UTSW, their records dept told me that there were NO LAWS that

prevented DH from giving me my own medical records. They indicated that this was

probably a " DH issue " and said that they (UTSW) try to be more " customer service

focused " .

Are any of you familiar with the HIPAA laws and how they relate to this

particular situation?

Thanks,

Amy