Health Equity

On April 21, the Committee on Health will hold a hearing that will discuss, among other bills, B24-0133. This legislation will introduce new requirements to the retention and sharing of medical records in the District. MSDC wants members to be aware of this bill in advance of the hearing to allow members to testify on Wednesday if desired.

The legislation was introduced by Council Chair Phil Mendelson on March 1. You can see the current text of the legislation here. Below is a breakdown of the important items for District physicians:

• The bill requires healthcare providers to provide requested medical records to a patient (or patient's representative, defined below) within 30 days of the request. The record must be the exact record requested and in the format requested (i.e., paper or electronically). 
• If a provider fails to provide the record as specified, they can be fined $25 per day after 30 days, for a total fine not to exceed $5,000.
• If the patient is deceased, the request can be made by the estate, representative of the estate (temporary or permanent), or survivor of the deceased.
• The bill defines a medical record as a copy of a bill or billing record, and protected health information as defined here.
• Fees - a provider may not charge more than $6.50 for electronically producing a record and $150 for a paper record. You may not charge a "per page" fee for an electronic record, but may charge a per page fee for a paper record (but no more than $0.76 per page) and postage. You may not charge a handling fee. 
• All medical records must be maintained for 10 years from the last contact with an adult patient. 
• For an adolescent patient, you will be required to maintain their medical record for 10 years after the minor reaches the age of majority.

If you would like to testify on this bill or speak to someone about this legislation, contact our office at 202.466.1800 x101 or email hay [at] msdc.org.