Hospital Correspondence Corp. v. McRae

682 So. 2d 1177, 1996 WL 648293
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedNovember 8, 1996
Docket95-3107
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 682 So. 2d 1177 (Hospital Correspondence Corp. v. McRae) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hospital Correspondence Corp. v. McRae, 682 So. 2d 1177, 1996 WL 648293 (Fla. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

682 So.2d 1177 (1996)

HOSPITAL CORRESPONDENCE CORP., Appellant,
v.
Frankie McRAE, Phyllis Peterson, et al., Appellees.

No. 95-3107.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

November 8, 1996.

Edward M. Waller, Jr. and Hala A. Sandridge, of Fowler, White, Gillen, Boggs, Villareal and Banker, P.A., Tampa, for Appellant.

Dock A. Blanchard, of Blanchard, Merriam, Adel & Kirkland, P.A., Ocala, for Appellees.

William Alan Bell, Tallahassee, Amicus Curiae for Florida Hospital Association.

GRIFFIN, Judge.

Hospital Correspondence Corporation ["HCC"] appeals a partial summary judgment entered by the lower court which found HCC liable to a certified class represented by Frankie McRae, Phyllis Peterson, and Weiner & Cannon, P.A. ["the Representatives"]. The Representatives brought suit on behalf of all persons and entities who were charged $2 by HCC under section *1178 395.3025(1), Florida Statutes, for medical records reproduced from nonpaper sources such as microfilm or microfiche. The lower court ruled that the proper charge should have been $1. Although we approve the lower court's interpretation of section 395.3025(1), we believe the lower court erred in determining liability in favor of the Representatives without consideration of the multiple affirmative defenses.

The representatives each requested medical records from either Munroe Regional Medical Center (MRMC) or Marion Community Hospital (MCH). The requests were forwarded to HCC, a company that provides copying services to approximately forty medical facilities in Florida, including MRMC and MCH. Prior to completing the orders, HCC sent McRae and Peterson "fee approval letters" which explained the charges to be incurred and requested prepayment. McRae was charged $164 for copying 82 pages from microfilm records. Peterson was charged $784 for 264 copies from microfilm and 256 copies from paper records. McRae paid; Peterson refused. Weiner & Cannon received an invoice along with their copies which explained that $50 had been charged for 25 copies from microfiche. They paid the fee. All three parties subsequently brought a class action against HCC claiming they were overcharged.

HCC's principal defense is that section 395.3025(1), Florida Statutes authorizes a charge of $2 for each page of paper it copies from nonpaper sources such as microfilm and microfiche. Adopted by the Florida legislature in 1992, the statute provides in part:

Any licensed facility shall, upon written request, and only after discharge of the patient, furnish, in a timely manner, without delays for legal review, to any person admitted therein for care and treatment or treated thereat, or to any such person's guardian, curator, or personal representative, or in the absence of one of those persons, to the next of kin of a decedent or the parent of a minor, or to anyone designated by such person in writing, a true and correct copy of all patient records, including X rays, and insurance information concerning such person, which records are in the possession of the licensed facility, provided the person requesting such records agrees to pay a charge. The exclusive charge for copies of patient records may include sales tax and actual postage, and, except for nonpaper records which are subject to a charge not to exceed $2 as provided in s. 28.24(9)(c), may not exceed $1 per page, as provided in s. 28.24(8)(a). A fee of up to $1 may be charged for each year of records requested. These charges shall apply to all records furnished, whether directly from the facility or from a copy service providing these services on behalf of the facility....

§ 395.3025(1), Fla. Stat. (1993) (emphasis added). HCC's answer also alleged more than twenty affirmative defenses; among them were estoppel, waiver, the statute of limitations, laches, accord and satisfaction, the unconstitutionality of the statute and that the statute fails to offer a private right of recovery.

After the lower court certified the class, the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. HCC's motion, filed first, requested summary judgment on the basis of its interpretation of the statute. Neither the motion nor the accompanying memorandum addressed any of HCC's affirmative defenses. The Representatives responded with their own motion, requesting "partial summary judgment as to liability and/or in the alternative, as to the statutory interpretation" of section 395.3025. The motion argued liability solely on the basis of the statute and did not address HCC's affirmative defenses.

Prior to the hearing on the motions, the parties filed with the trial court numerous depositions and affidavits as well as legislative history for section 395.3025 and its predecessor. Near the end of the several hour hearing, at which the parties presented the trial judge with their interpretations of section 395.3025, HCC briefly argued that the statute as construed by the Representatives amounted to an unconstitutional deprivation of property without just compensation. When the Representatives stressed that such an argument was not addressed in the motions, HCC explained that it related to one of its affirmative defenses. Apart from this *1179 exchange, there was no discussion concerning HCC's affirmative defenses.

The trial court granted a partial summary judgment in favor of the Representatives. In the summary judgment order, the court found section 395.3025(1) clearly and unambiguously [1] to instruct licensed medical facilities and their copying services to charge no more than $1 for each page of paper copied from microfilm or microfiche. The reference in the statute to "nonpaper records," according to the trial court, pertained to materials received by a requester, rather than the sources from which such were reproduced, and the $2 charge was applicable only when a requester received nonpaper copies of medical records. The court's order concluded that HCC is liable to the Representatives for all monies it received in excess of the $1 statutorily authorized fee.

The primary issue on appeal is the proper interpretation of the language of section 395.3025(1). HCC first contends that the "nonpaper records" referred to in the statute are the source records from which copies are made to be sold to the requester. When requests are made for copies of records which are stored on microfilm or microfiche, media which it considers to be nonpaper, the applicable charge for copies may not exceed $2. The Representatives, on the other hand, urge that "nonpaper records" refers to the requested copies of patient records.

In support of their argument, the Representatives place great weight on section 28.24, the statute referenced in the medical records statute. Section 28.24 outlines the charges to be assessed by the clerks of the circuit courts for services rendered by their offices. In pertinent part, the statute provides:

The clerk of the circuit court shall make the following charges for services rendered...
(8)(a) For making copies by photographic
       process of any instrument in the
       public records consisting of pages of
       not more than 14 inches by 8½
       inches, per page ............................. 1.00
   (b) For making copies by photographic
       process of any instrument in the
       public records of more than 14
       inches by 8½ inches, per page ............... 5.00
(9)    For making microfilm copies of any
       public records:
  (a) 16 mm 100' microfilm roll .................... 25.00
  (b) 35 mm 100' microfilm roll .................... 

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682 So. 2d 1177, 1996 WL 648293, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hospital-correspondence-corp-v-mcrae-fladistctapp-1996.