Medical Records

Health Information Management

Health Information Management is dedicated to maintaining your medical records and keeping your health information private and secure in accordance with federal privacy and state regulations.

Medical records are kept for 20 years after the patient's discharge or final treatment. Patients have the right to review or, for a fee, receive copies of their medical records.

Obtain a Copy of Your Medical Record

ATTENTION: We are not accepting in-person requests for medical records. Please submit your request via mail (directions below). Thank you.

To obtain a copy of your medical record, this release of information form must be properly filled out and mailed to the Health Information Management Department. The requestor must be a patient or patient's guardian/legal representative.

Our mailing address is:

Release of Information
Attn: Medical Records
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
330 Brookline Avenue, RA-OB14
Boston, MA 02215

We will mail your records to the address specified on the release of information form. For patient privacy protection, we do not fax or email medical records (except in the case of emergency care) to the provider.

The average turnaround time to obtain copies of medical records is usually 7 business days.

Medical Imaging Requests

To request copies of X-ray, MRI, nuclear medicine or other imaging, please follow the Department of Radiology instructions under the "Obtaining Copies of Your Images" section.

Birth, Death and Marriage Records

For certified copies, please contact the City of Boston, Registry Division.

Records from other BID Member Hospitals and HMFP

Record Fees

A fee may be charged based on the reason the copies are being requested. Under the law, effective October 1, 2018, fees for copies of medical records — for patients only — are:

  • Electronic records delivered in electronic format $6.50
  • Electronic medical record with paper records delivered in Electronic format are billed at $6.50 + $0.07 per page labor cost to create and deliver the portion of the record maintained in paper
  • Electronic records delivered in paper $0.90 labor cost to create and deliver the portion of the record maintained electronically plus $0.05 per page for paper and toner
  • Paper records delivered in electronic format $0.07 per page labor fee
  • Paper records delivered in paper $0.12 per page
  • Plus postage and taxes

There is no charge for continuity of care if records are sent directly to your physician. Please allow up to 30 days for processing.

Requests from any other party that is not the patient:

  • $24.37 base charge for clerical and other administrative expenses related to complying with the request for making a copy of the record;
  • $0.82 per-page charge for the first 100 pages copied; and
  • $0.42 per-page charge for each page in excess of 100 pages

There may be an additional fee charged for postage and the administrative cost of developing a summary of medical information if requested.

There is no charge for records that are requested for the purpose of continuity of care, which are sent directly to a physician's office and/or medical facility or for eligibility review with Medicare, MassHealth, or other public assistance programs.

If You are Under 18

In general, a person under the age of 18 cannot consent to the release of his/her medical records except in one of the following exceptions:

  • Married, widowed, or divorced
  • Parent of a child
  • Members of the armed forces
  • Pregnant (or believes herself to be)
  • Living apart from parents and managing his/her own finances
  • Abortion records: records of unmarried minors who have received authorized consent from Superior Court for an abortion cannot be released without the minor's written consent

 

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has a long history of innovation in healthcare information technology. We use Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT) developed at BIDMC to store patient health records securely. View BIDMC's electronic health record certification, support for multi-factor authentication, and API document and terms of use.