Right to Request Amendment to Health Information

After you receive and look at a copy of your health information/medical record, you may find something that you believe is not correct, or you may think that information is missing. You have the right to ask us to have wrong information corrected or add information to your medical record that you believe is missing.

While you have a right to ask us to make corrections or to add missing information, not all requests for changes will be accepted. If we turn down your request, you have the right to send us a short statement explaining why you disagree, and we will add your statement to your record. If we accept your request to change your record, you have the right to ask that the corrected information be sent to others who may have received a copy of the original record, such as another doctor or an insurance company.

What to Expect:

• We are happy to take your amendment request, but understand that not all requests will be granted.

• In most cases, you will receive a letter in the mail within 60 days of the date we received your request. The letter will tell you what decision was made about your request.
  • If we are not able to reply to your request within 60 days of receiving it, we will send you a letter telling you why and also telling you when you can expect to get an answer to your request.
  • Note that the law allows us an additional 30 days to answer you if we need more time.
• Federal and state laws generally do not allow healthcare providers to remove information written in a medical record.

• The letter you receive will tell you what decision was made about your request. There are three possible decisions. They are:
  • Your healthcare provider agrees with your request to have information in your record changed or to add information to your record to make it more complete.
  • Your healthcare provider denies your request to make changes and will tell you why. For example, your provider may believe your record is accurate and complete as written and that no changes are necessary.
  • Your healthcare provider agrees with some parts of your request and disagrees with others. This is called a partial acceptance.
• If your request is denied or you receive a partial acceptance letter, you have a right to have a letter filed in your medical record that states that you disagree with the denial or the decision to only partially change or add information.

• If you send us a letter of disagreement, we may write a rebuttal, which is our statement in response. If we write a rebuttal, we will send you a copy.

• We will file your request for changes or additions to your record and our response letter in your medical record.
  • We will also file any letter of disagreement and any rebuttals in your medical record.
• We will send copies of your request for changes or additions and our response, including any letters of disagreement and rebuttals, to others who may have received copies of the original records if you let us know where to send it.