Medical Records

Release of information

A patient, or his/her legal representative, may inspect and/or obtain a copy of their medical records, or have copies of medical records sent to another facility.

Stanford Health Care requires a completed and signed Authorization for Release of Health Information form before releasing any documents to anyone, including the patient. In certain cases, a patient's physician, psychologist or social worker may also be required to approve a request made using a release form.

How to request a copy of your medical records

• Print and complete the Authorization for Disclosure of Health Information form:
  
  • English
  • Spanish
• The release form must be completed, dated and signed
• We ask that you specify what components of your medical records you wish to obtain/release. Often, the discharge summary, operative report and history and physical contain relevant information to suit your needs.
• Requests must be specifically signed if requesting/authorizing the following information:
  • Psychiatric Care
  • AIDS/HIV
  • Alcohol/Drug abuse
  • Fertility Treatment

Release of medical information charges

• No charges for page count if 75 pages or less.
• $0.15 per page for 76 pages and over.
• If your charges exceed $100, we require payment before the records are released

Next steps after requesting medical records

• Please allow up to 14 calendar days for your request to be processed. If you indicated the option to pick-up your release form, you will be contacted by the Release of Information Office when your records are ready. A photo ID is required.
• If an individual other than the patient is picking up the records, then that individual must have an original signed authorization letter from the patient and a photo ID. 
  
• Learn how to request share access to a child's or adult patient's online health record at Stanford Health Care through the MyHealth Share Access (Proxy) Program. If you or your child received care at Stanford Children's Health, learn how to request share access to your online health record(s) via their myChart Program.
• Once you have obtained and reviewed your records, if you find an error that requires correction, please discuss it with your provider or use the form provided below to request a correction/amendment. Please include a copy of the page(s) where the error(s) occur and the completed form. You will receive a written reply within 60-days but for more complex cases, this may be extended an additional 30 days.

Billing

If you have questions regarding your billing statement, please refer to our Billing information.

Learn how to request share access to a child's or adult patient's online health record and/or billing information through the MyHealth Share Access (Proxy) Program. 

If you or your child received care at Stanford Children's Health, learn how to create an account and/or request share access to view your child's online health record(s) and medical bills using their myChart Program.

Radiology images

If you are requesting radiology images, telemetry tapes or photos, you must contact the department that collected the data.

• To obtain a copy of these records, please print and complete a separate Authorization for Disclosure of Health Information form:
  
  • English
  • Spanish
• You can contact:

Health Information Exchange

Stanford Health Care and University Healthcare Alliance (UHA) practices participate in secure electronic health information exchange. Our ability to safely share health information with other members of your care team benefits you in many ways.

Resources:

Patient Health Information Exchange Handout

Patient Health Information Exchange Exemption Form