Requires medical records to be made available to patients in an electronic format through a web portal and in a format that allows patients to save records to their own device.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8961
SPONSOR: Reyes TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to the release of
medical records in an electronic format
PURPOSE:
To make a patient's medical records as accessible as possible by requir-
ing medical records to be accessible through healthcare portals and be
provided in a downloadable format.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends section 17 of the public health law by adding a new
paragraph that requires all medical records that a patient has a right
to access must be accessible through the patient's healthcare portal and
in a downloadable form.
Section two states the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Since the enactment of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountabil-
ity Act of 1996 (HIPPA), the right of a patient to access their medical
records has been well established. Everyone has the right to access
their medical records and receive them in the most convenient form that
can be provided. However, since HIPPA's enactment, the healthcare land-
scape has changed: Many New Yorkers now use healthcare portals to coor-
dinate their care and while some providers give access to a patient's
medical records through these portals, it is not a universal standard.
This legislation would require providers to allow patients access to
their medical records via their online healthcare portal and that the
records be downloadable. This will ensure that patients have every
available avenue to view their medical records in the most convenient
form possible.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to state.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it.
shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8961
IN ASSEMBLY
January 31, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. REYES -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to the release of
medical records in an electronic format
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 17 of the public health law, as amended by chapter
2 165 of the laws of 1991, the first undesignated paragraph as amended by
3 chapter 322 of the laws of 2017, is amended to read as follows:
4 § 17. Release of medical records. 1. Upon the written request of any
5 competent patient, parent or guardian of an infant, a guardian appointed
6 pursuant to article eighty-one of the mental hygiene law, or conservator
7 of a conservatee, an examining, consulting or treating physician or
8 hospital must release and deliver, exclusive of personal notes of the
9 said physician or hospital, copies of all x-rays, medical records and
10 test records including all laboratory tests regarding that patient to
11 any other designated physician or hospital provided, however, that such
12 records concerning the treatment of an infant patient for venereal
13 disease or the performance of an abortion operation upon such infant
14 patient shall not be released or in any manner be made available to the
15 parent or guardian of such infant, and provided, further, that original
16 mammograms, rather than copies thereof, shall be released and delivered.
17 Either the physician or hospital incurring the expense of providing
18 copies of x-rays, medical records and test records including all labora-
19 tory tests pursuant to the provisions of this section may impose a
20 reasonable charge to be paid by the person requesting the release and
21 deliverance of such records as reimbursement for such expenses,
22 provided, however, that the physician or hospital may not impose a
23 charge for copying an original mammogram when the original has been
24 released or delivered to any competent patient, parent or guardian of an
25 infant, a guardian appointed pursuant to article eighty-one of the
26 mental hygiene law, or a conservator of a conservatee and provided,
27 further, that any charge for delivering an original mammogram pursuant
28 to this section shall not exceed the documented costs associated there-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13171-01-3
A. 8961 2
1 with. However, the reasonable charge for paper copies shall not exceed
2 seventy-five cents per page. A release of records under this section
3 shall not be denied solely because of inability to pay. No charge may be
4 imposed under this section for providing, releasing, or delivering
5 medical records or copies of medical records where requested for the
6 purpose of supporting an application, claim or appeal for any government
7 benefit or program, provided that, where a provider maintains medical
8 records in electronic form, it shall provide the copy in either elec-
9 tronic or paper form, as required by the government benefit or program,
10 or at the patient's request.
11 2. All medical records required to be released pursuant to subdivision
12 one of this section shall be made available to patients, at the
13 patient's request, in an electronic format through a web portal and such
14 records shall be in a format that allows patients to save the records to
15 their own device.
16 3. For the purposes of this section the term "laboratory tests" shall
17 include but not be limited to tests and examinations administered in
18 clinical laboratories or blood banks as those terms are defined in
19 section five hundred seventy-one of this chapter.
20 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
21 it shall have become a law.
