Enrichment · Life Skills

Your records,
where they need to be.

Log each request with the date the office received it, choose the records the next doctor actually needs, and work through the steps to a confirmed arrival. The checklist counts the days the law gives the office to act and tells you when to push.

Start a requestWhat you get

Records requests

The worked example is a made-up family: a move to a new practice whose request is 37 days old, and immunizations sent to a college health center. Requests save on this device only.

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What you get

Enrichment · Life SkillsFree

What you finish with
A request per transfer with patient initials, reason, sending and receiving offices, date received, method, format, extension and arrival; seven kinds of records; six steps from release to error check; follow-up calls; the day count against the 30-day limit (60 with a written extension) and a flag when it is passed.
Who it is for
Adults managing their own care, parents and guardians moving a child’s records, students sending health forms to a college, and family caregivers.
Format
Browser checklist with a saved request per transfer. Prints a request, all requests or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Life Skills space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Ask the sending office for its request form or use the patient portal.
  2. Record the date the office received the request.
  3. Tick the records the next office needs.
  4. Log each follow-up call with the date and what you were told.
  5. When records arrive, keep your own copy and read it for errors.

Start a request

Your right of access

How long an office has to actDays 1 to 30Days 31 to 60Every requestThe office acts orexplains in writing.Only if it told youin writing, with areason, by day 30.How long an office has to actDays 1 to 30Days 31 to 60Every requestThe office acts orexplains in writing.Only if it told youin writing, with areason, by day 30.
The clock starts when the office receives your request, so note that date, not the day you mailed it.

What the law gives you

Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule you can get a copy of your health records, in electronic form if the office keeps them that way, and you can direct the office to send a copy to someone else. The office has 30 calendar days to act and may take one 30-day extension if it tells you why in writing. It may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for copies.

Children and school records

A parent is usually the person who can request a child’s records, with some exceptions that vary by state. Records kept by a school nurse are school records, covered by FERPA rather than HIPAA, so ask the school for those.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. Individuals’ Right under HIPAA to Access their Health Information (hhs.gov).
  2. Code of Federal Regulations, 45 CFR 164.524, Access of individuals to protected health information (ecfr.gov).
  3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Your Medical Records: getting a copy and correcting errors (45 CFR 164.526), (hhs.gov).
  4. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Education. Joint Guidance on the Application of FERPA and HIPAA to Student Health Records (2019 update).

The worked example is made up. This checklist explains general federal rights; it is not legal advice, and state law can add rights. Never type medical details you would not want on a shared device. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.