Every time you visit your GP, go to hospital, get a blood test or scan, information about your health is compiled in your medical records. Details like your diagnosis, treatment plans, test results and medications are all outlined, often in great detail.
But who owns these medical records? As they’re about your body and your health, is it you? Or is it the doctor who wrote them? And what happens to them if your doctor leaves or retires?
Following the departure of many doctors in our region over the last couple of years, there has been a string of reports of people trying to get access to their medical records And most have found it’s not always easy.
Who owns your medical records?
Many people assume each person owns their own medical records. However, according to Chair of the New England Division of General Practice and Armidale GP, Dr Alex Draney, that’s not true.
“I think it’s a bit of a myth that people have out there, that they own their own records but they actually don’t,” she told New England Times.
According to NSW Privacy Law, the health provider who created your medical record owns the record.
The Medical Board of Australia’s Code of Conduct for Doctors in Australia requires medical practitioners to maintain clear, respectful and secure medical records.
According to their code, they have to:
· Keep accurate and up-to-date notes that other healthcare professionals can understand.
· Protect those records from unauthorised access.
· Treat patients with dignity in how that information is recorded.
· Keep records for at least 7 years for adults. For children, they must be kept until they’re 25 years of age.
How can you get access to your records?
Just because you don’t own your records, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have rights to them. As part of their obligations, doctors also have to allow patients access to their information.
Their code of conduct said good medical practice involves: “Recognising patients’ right to access information contained in their medical records and facilitating that access.”
This means you can ask to see the records at the health service, or you can ask to have it explained to you by a healthcare provider.
Although not common anymore, Dr Draney has seen patients bring their physical medical files into the practice when their old GP has retired.
“I have known of them handing people’s files to them personally, and them bringing them to a new practice, and having to be scanned and digitally archived,” she said.
The Royal Australasian College of General Practitioners doesn’t advise this.
In their advice fact sheet to health practices, they suggest practices do not release the original paper file and provide alternatives depending on the needs of the patient. This might include:
· “an up-to-date summary containing all relevant material”
· “provide access to a patient’s medical files in a room at the practice.”
The correct procedure when you’re moving to a new doctor is to submit a request to transfer your records to the new practice. Your new doctor can then go through any concerns with you.
Some practices will charge for this, usually for the administration of copying and printing records, postage or courier delivery and file searching or collating.
Another significant concern is that some practices have a ‘no shared care’ policy – so if you request your records to be transferred to another doctor, but you still intend to keep seeing your old practice (like say you want a second opinion on something) it’s best to check or inform your old clinic of why you’re asking for your records to be transferred, and make it very clear that you don’t want to but struck off their books.
What happens if you can’t get access to your records?
If your healthcare provider has retired or closed down, they have a responsibility to provide continuity of care. They should tell you when they’re planning on closing the practice and give you the option to provide an different doctor to transfer the records to.
However, sometimes for a variety of reasons, the records can’t be accessed. When this happens, Dr Draney said the new doctor has to do a bit of research.
Sometimes, they might need to contact a specialist or pathology lab if they need understand a complicated situation. MyHealthRecord can also give information about pathology, imaging results, and hospital discharge summaries.
“Most patients are able to give a fairly good history of what’s going on, the people they’ve seen. As a GP, we can pick out the pertinent bits,” Dr Draney said.
“It just takes time,” she continued.
In some cases, it’s easier to start again.
“There are times where you make the decision that there’s probably not a lot to be gained by rummaging through the last 20 years of results… We’ll be able to get a handle on things if we just get a look at what things are like now and move forward,” she said.
It’s important to note that if you have tried to access your medical records from your health provider and have been refused without justification, you can complain.
· For employees of the NSW Public Sector, contact the NSW Healthcare Complaints Commission.
· For practitioners in the private sector you can complain directly to the NSW Privacy Commissioner on ipcinfo@ipc.nsw.gov.au.
The Information and Privacy Commission of NSW factsheet outlines that your complaint should include the details of what information you requested, where you requested it from and a copy of all your correspondence with the health provider.
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