(a) The party requesting the patient’s records is responsible to the provider for the reasonable costs of copying and mailing such patient’s records. For other than records involving workers’ compensation cases, such reasonable costs shall not exceed twenty dollars ($20.00) for medical records five (5) pages or less in length and fifty cents (50¢) per page for each page copied after the first five (5) pages and the actual cost of mailing. Any third-party provider of record copying and related services shall be subject to the reasonable cost limits contained in this section and shall not impose any charge or fee for such services in excess of such cost limits. The costs charged for reproducing records of patients involved in a workers’ compensation claim shall be as defined in § 50-6-204. A health care provider shall not charge a fee for copying or notarizing a medical record when requested by the department pursuant to a complaint, inspection or survey as set forth in § 63-1-117.
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 63-2-102
Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
Health care provider: means any person required to be licensed under this title. See Tennessee Code 63-2-101
Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
medical records: includes any list of patients that is compiled or maintained by or for such patient's health care provider. See Tennessee Code 63-2-101
Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Any increase in charges for copying and certifying medical records permitted by this section that is above those charges established by this section as it existed on January 1, 2010, shall not apply to requests for medical records made by the department of human services, and charges for copying and certifying medical records requests made by the department of human services shall remain the same as existed under this section as of January 1, 2010.(c)(1) Upon request, the provider shall submit a notarized affidavit by the custodian of records certifying that the records provided in response to the request:
(A) Are true and correct copies of records in the custody of the affiant;(B) Were made at or near the time of the occurrence of the matters set forth by, or from information transmitted by, a person with knowledge of and a business duty to record or transmit those matters;(C) Were kept in the course of regularly conducted activity; and(D) Were made by the regularly conducted activity as a regular practice.(2) In addition to the charge for the copies of the record, the provider may charge up to twenty dollars ($20.00) for the affidavit described in this subsection (c), and the records submitted with that affidavit, and the affidavit shall qualify for the business records exception to the hearsay rule.(d) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as superseding any provision of law that establishes specific costs for the reproduction, copying or mailing of records.(e) Payment of such costs may be required by the provider prior to the records being furnished. Upon payment of the costs described in this section, the patient or a patient’s authorized representative shall have the right to receive the medical records without delay.(f) In workers’ compensation cases, a request for medical records shall include a medical or anatomical impairment rating as required by § 50-6-246 [See the Compiler’s Notes].
