§ 17 — Release of medical records

§ 17. Release of medical records. Upon the written request of any\ncompetent patient, parent or guardian of an infant, a guardian appointed\npursuant to article eighty-one of the mental hygiene law, or conservator\nof a conservatee, an examining, consulting or treating physician or\nhospital must release and deliver, exclusive of personal notes of the\nsaid physician or hospital, copies of all x-rays, medical records and\ntest records including all laboratory tests regarding that patient to\nany other designated physician or hospital provided, however, that such\nrecords concerning the treatment of an infant patient for venereal\ndisease or the performance of an abortion operation upon such infant\npatient shall not be released or in any manner be made available to the\nparent or guardian of such infant, and provided, further, that original\nmammograms, rather than copies thereof, shall be released and delivered.\nEither the physician or hospital incurring the expense of providing\ncopies of x-rays, medical records and test records including all\nlaboratory tests pursuant to the provisions of this section may impose a\nreasonable charge to be paid by the person requesting the release and\ndeliverance of such records as reimbursement for such expenses,\nprovided, however, that the physician or hospital may not impose a\ncharge for copying an original mammogram when the original has been\nreleased or delivered to any competent patient, parent or guardian of an\ninfant, a guardian appointed pursuant to article eighty-one of the\nmental hygiene law, or a conservator of a conservatee and provided,\nfurther, that any charge for delivering an original mammogram pursuant\nto this section shall not exceed the documented costs associated\ntherewith. However, the reasonable charge for paper copies shall not\nexceed seventy-five cents per page. A release of records under this\nsection shall not be denied solely because of inability to pay. No\ncharge may be imposed under this section for providing, releasing, or\ndelivering medical records or copies of medical records where requested\nfor the purpose of supporting an application, claim or appeal for any\ngovernment benefit or program, provided that, where a provider maintains\nmedical records in electronic form, it shall provide the copy in either\nelectronic or paper form, as required by the government benefit or\nprogram, or at the patient's request.\n For the purposes of this section the term "laboratory tests" shall\ninclude but not be limited to tests and examinations administered in\nclinical laboratories or blood banks as those terms are defined in\nsection five hundred seventy-one of this chapter.\n