When a physician retires, one of the most challenging and important duties facing him is caring for the medical records of his patients. This is equally important whether electronic or paper records have been kept over the years. In my case, all of your charts are physical, paper chart records. There are four roles that a records retention service provides for these records:
1. Physically taking control of the roughly 6000 patient charts that I have from the past 25 years of pediatric care in Riverside, and then moving them to a secure storage facility.
2. Promising to care for these charts for the next 20 years.
3. Making a copy of the pertinent chart notes which I have recorded when requested to do so by the patient or parent, while protecting such information from falling into unauthorized hands.
4. Finally, when state law no longer requires a chart to be kept (which is approximately 20 years), the medical records retention service will confidentially destroy those medical records.
In order to support these functions, Legacy Information, LLC, charges a fee of $30 per requested patient chart to verify identity, digitize, and deliver a copy of the chart notes to you. This is in accordance with industry standards and is less than the fees allowed by the Washington State Administrative Code WAC 246-08-400, which allows $28 plus $1.24 per page.
Once Legacy Information, LLC, has verified that your entries on the form below are consistent with data in your patient's chart, they will send you a PayPal invoice through the email address you have provided and double checked. (In addition to supporting the above functions of Legacy Information, LLC, this fee is also an effective deterrent against scam artists trying to access random medical records from around the globe.) When your $30 payment to Legacy Information, LLC, has been processed, they will email you a digital copy of the medical records you have requested. It is then your responsibility to securely transmit those records to your new medical provider, either by fax, email, or in person at your (first) new patient visit with them. It is also highly recommended that you keep either a physical or digital copy of the records for the long term.
