Mid-Atlantic Health Law TOPICS

Medical Records Processing Fee: Did you know that, although the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s Privacy Rule prohibits health care providers from charging patients who request access to their medical records any fee other than a “reasonable, cost-based” copying fee and postage, these restrictions do not apply when copying a patient’s medical records for another health care provider, even if the receiving provider requests the medical records on behalf of a patient? In other words, Maryland doctors can charge the State permitted $22.03 processing fee, in addition to the State permitted 73¢ per page copying fee, when providing medical records directly to another health care provider, as opposed to providing those records directly to a patient.

Meaningful Use of EMR: Did you know that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) promulgated regulations under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act that entitle Maryland acute care hospitals to incentive payments for “meaningful use” of electronic health records, notwithstanding that Maryland hospitals operate under a waiver of Medicare’s Prospective Payment System?