A Webster Springs man recently filed a lawsuit against West Virginia University Healthcare (WVUH) regarding a more than $500.00 medical records fee charged by WVUH for records that were delivered to his lawyer on a compact disc (CD) rather than actual photocopies.
Christopher Thomack of Webster Springs has been involved in a personal injury lawsuit when his lawyer, David Goddard of Clarksburg, requested copies of Thomack's medical records from WVUH as part of that lawsuit. The records were produced for a fee in excess of $500.00 for the 1,200 plus medical record pages electronically copied onto the CD.
According to attorney Goddard, WVUH stores all medical records electronically. "There is very little cost for them to produce records that way--just a couple clicks on a computer and a 25 cent CD," he said.
The complaint is not that the records were delivered on a CD; the complaint is the high fee for doing so. As technology has advanced, fewer medical providers actually have to hire folks to stand at a copy machine to copy volumes of records. Now, most providers do this electronically at a computer and at very little cost.
Goddard explained that under West Virginia law, all patients have a right of access to their medical records and that medical providers like WVUH are entitled to compensation for their actual expenses in producing medical records requested by patients. Under that law (see link below), providers can charge a copying fee of an absolute maximum of 75 cents per page, plus a $10.00 search fee.
In the lawsuit over the medical records fee that was filed in the Circuit Court of Monongalia County, Goddard is seeking to have the lawsuit certified as a class action lawsuit on behalf of all persons who were charged these high fees for records placed on CD's over the past five years. The number of potential plaintiffs other than Thomack could number into the thousands. "Only WVUH knows the actual number, and we have filed discovery requests to find out how many there are," Goddard added.
Goddard also noted that medical provides outside of West Virginia as well as some in the State have adjusted their medical record fees to reflect the ease of putting electronically stored records onto a CD. "Other states charge a flat $25.00 for this service regardless of the number of records since it is done electronically, and some hospitals in West Virginia have adjusted their fee practice to take the same approach," Goddard said.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of Thomack seeks two types of relief. First, the lawsuit asks for a declaratory judgment whereby the Court would rule that WVUH can not bill these types of fees in the future. Second, the lawsuit seeks to get back all or some of the overcharges for the past five years for all members of the class action lawsuit.
"This has become a profit center for the [medical providers] and that was not the intent of the law [when providing compensation for producing medical records]," Goddard noted. WVUH has not yet filed any formal response to the lawsuit.
For more information about attorney Goddard, and for contact information should you wish to join the class action lawsuit, please click on this link:
http://www.goddardlawwv.com
Christopher Thomack of Webster Springs has been involved in a personal injury lawsuit when his lawyer, David Goddard of Clarksburg, requested copies of Thomack's medical records from WVUH as part of that lawsuit. The records were produced for a fee in excess of $500.00 for the 1,200 plus medical record pages electronically copied onto the CD.
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| Attorney David Goddard |
The complaint is not that the records were delivered on a CD; the complaint is the high fee for doing so. As technology has advanced, fewer medical providers actually have to hire folks to stand at a copy machine to copy volumes of records. Now, most providers do this electronically at a computer and at very little cost.
Goddard explained that under West Virginia law, all patients have a right of access to their medical records and that medical providers like WVUH are entitled to compensation for their actual expenses in producing medical records requested by patients. Under that law (see link below), providers can charge a copying fee of an absolute maximum of 75 cents per page, plus a $10.00 search fee.
In the lawsuit over the medical records fee that was filed in the Circuit Court of Monongalia County, Goddard is seeking to have the lawsuit certified as a class action lawsuit on behalf of all persons who were charged these high fees for records placed on CD's over the past five years. The number of potential plaintiffs other than Thomack could number into the thousands. "Only WVUH knows the actual number, and we have filed discovery requests to find out how many there are," Goddard added.
Goddard also noted that medical provides outside of West Virginia as well as some in the State have adjusted their medical record fees to reflect the ease of putting electronically stored records onto a CD. "Other states charge a flat $25.00 for this service regardless of the number of records since it is done electronically, and some hospitals in West Virginia have adjusted their fee practice to take the same approach," Goddard said.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of Thomack seeks two types of relief. First, the lawsuit asks for a declaratory judgment whereby the Court would rule that WVUH can not bill these types of fees in the future. Second, the lawsuit seeks to get back all or some of the overcharges for the past five years for all members of the class action lawsuit.
"This has become a profit center for the [medical providers] and that was not the intent of the law [when providing compensation for producing medical records]," Goddard noted. WVUH has not yet filed any formal response to the lawsuit.
For more information about attorney Goddard, and for contact information should you wish to join the class action lawsuit, please click on this link:
http://www.goddardlawwv.com
To read the West Virginia law regarding costs which can be charged for medical records, please click this link:
Under the federal law known as HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), a medical provider can charge a reasonable fee for medical records. HIPPA provides that the fee must be "cost based," such as actual copying of records (supplies and labor for the copying) and postage. To read the HIPPA law on medical records, please click this link (on page 3 of the link under the heading fees are costs discusssed):
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