in Newswire Published on October 6, 2020

Kingston, NY Hospital, Ciox Health Charged ‘Excessive Fees’ for Electronic Medical Records, Case Alleges

Russell v. Healthalliance Hospital Broadway Campus et al.

Filed: September 30, 2020 ◆§ 1:20-cv-01204

A lawsuit claims Healthalliance Hospital and Ciox Health “failed and refused” to provide requested electronic medical records while charging excessive fees.

Defendant(s)

Ciox Health, LLC Healthalliance Hospital Broadway Campus

Law(s)

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

State(s)

New York

Categories

Medical/Health

Healthalliance Hospital Broadway Campus and medical records management company Ciox Health, LLC face a proposed class action that claims the entities have “failed and refused” to provide requested electronic medical records while charging excessive fees.

The plaintiff, whose husband died after being treated for lung cancer at the Kingston, New York hospital, alleges that despite requesting her husband’s medical records in April 2020 in connection with a lawsuit against the hospital, the defendants have failed to provide the documentation as of September 2020, and demanded she pay photocopy fees associated with physical copies of the records.

According to the case, the plaintiff engaged counsel to represent her in a potential lawsuit regarding an alleged delay in the diagnosis and treatment of her husband’s lung cancer, from which he died in October 2019. The woman’s April 2020 request for his electronic medical records included “a properly executed release authorization,” power of attorney and certified death certificate, the suit relays.

According to the lawsuit, federal law dictates that healthcare providers have 30 days to comply with a request for medical records, while New York public health law provides 10 days to comply. Between April and September 2020, however, the defendants “failed and refused” to provide the plaintiff with her husband’s medical records despite several attempts to obtain them, the suit alleges.

Moreover, the plaintiff claims Ciox Health insisted that she pay photocopy fees applicable to obtaining physical copies of her husband’s medical records even though she requested the documentation in electronic form, for which there is a customary $6.50 fee. According to the suit, the HITECH Act of 2009 grants an individual the right to request medical records in an electronic form and requires healthcare providers to comply with such requests.

The plaintiff looks to represent the following proposed class:

“All adult patients or guardians of adult patients (or of the adult patient’s estate), parents or guardians of minor patients, or personal representatives or distributees of deceased patients, who: (a) requested medical records from the Kingston Hospital and/or Ciox Health, LLC; (b) by themselves, or through an attorney or any other individual or entity with the appropriate authorization; and (c) were charged by Kingston Hospital and/or Ciox Health, LLC, an unreasonable fee in excess of federal and/or New York State law for electronic copies of medical records, which are distinct from paper copies and photocopies.”

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