Why should i have to PAY for my medical records when THE DOC is LEAVING?

It is crap. You should not have to pay for something that is basically yours and all about you. What the hell are they going to do with it other than file it away?? And some places are outrageous in what they charge you. I needed to get a copy of my x-rays or mri and take it to another doctor..they were going to charge me for them until they learned i was taking them to another doctors..then i didn't have to pay. Um..that makes sense how??

I have heard of this too. While our systems are significantly different, as I live in Canada and not in the United States. I have heard of people needing to pay for their records be transferred, even in Canada. As for the other point in your post. Although your medical records are about you, they are not considered your personal property. They are considered to be the property of the medical clinic in which there are housed (at least here) and as such must remain there. I have read my own medical records, and quite frankly they're rather repetitive and not all that interesting. Here in Canada, you are not allowed to be alone with your medical records. This is so you cannot alter them in any way. However, you have an absolute legal right, to see what is contained in those records. I have done this by submitting a request in writing and subsequently heading down to the basement to sit with a records clerk so she could supervise me well I read. I guess the old saying is true, "Nothing is ever free!"

sounds like wherever you go you have to pay for reports, it is not because your doctor is leaving, if you asked for them for whatever reason, they would tell you you had to pay, many places are like that, they do not do anything for free.

They are your records...and you have already paid for them....I mean with as much as they charge at a clinic you truly should be the owner of them! I do think it's just another way to line their pockets.

Sounds like a last-ditch effort for him to make a little more money off you. Unfortunately, if you are going to be needing them later, you may not have a choice but to pay for them, unless you can get another doctor to request them for you. This may be a way for you to get around paying for them.

I get around it, have them transferred to another doctor at that doctor's request! I think it's outrageous that they charge for records. I would demand my complete file, no copy, no pay!

I've never heard of having to pay for them but I do know that when Hubby was going through his disability we had to fight tooth and nail to get his medical records to give to another doctor and then they refused to give them to us, insisting that they had to be sent straight to the new doctor. It's like you have no right to even see your own medical file much less have them give it to you. [b]MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! ~~AT PEACE WITHIN~~ **STAND STRONG AND TRUST IN GOD**[/b]