Patient Requests Transfer

If a patient requests that a physician transfer his or her
records, the transfer should take place in a timely fashion.
The physician may charge the patient a reasonable
fee to reflect the cost of the materials used, the time
required to prepare the material and the direct cost of
sending the material to the requesting physician.12
Prepayment of the fee for a transfer of medical records
may only be requested when, in the best judgment of
the treating physician, the patient’s health and safety
will not be put at risk if the records are not transferred.
In some circumstances, it will be desirable for the
transferring physician to prepare a summary of the
records rather than to provide a copy of the whole
record. This is acceptable to the College as long as it is
acceptable to the receiving physician and the patient.
The physician is still obligated to retain the original
record, in its entirety, for the time period required by
regulation.
The obligation to pay the account rests with the
patient or with the third party who has requested the
records. Fulfilling such a request is an uninsured service
and reasonable attempts may be made on the part
of the physician to collect the fee.