Muhlenberg: Access to Medical Records Costly

The question of access to their medical records has been much on the minds of those who received care or treatment at Muhlenberg Hospital.

Solaris ran an ad in yesterday's Courier (page A-10) concerning the matter, the text of which is reproduced below --

AN IMPORTANT NOTICE TO OUR COMMUNITY

How to Access Your Medical Records from Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center

Please be advised that due to the closure of Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center, JFK Medical Center will retain the responsibility for the safekeeping and accessibility of all components of the patients' medical records (both active and stored, and paper and electronic) on the Muhlenberg Campus. The patient or the patient's legally authorized representatives can request, in writing, copies of medical records. Request should be sent to:

Health Information Management Muhlenberg Campus Park Ave. and Randolph Rd. Plainfield, NJ 07061

One copy of the medical record from an individual admission shall be provided to the patient or the patient's legally authorized representative within 30 days of request. If patient has any questions, they may contact Health Information Management Department at 908-668-2234.

Readers should note that this is NOT REALLY THE WHOLE PICTURE, SINCE COSTS ARE NOT MENTIONED IN THE AD.

For those, you can turn to the 'records' page (http://www.muhlenberg.com/medical-records/) on the much-shrunken Muhlenberg website, where you learn that the charge will be $1/per page for the first 100 pages and then 25¢/per page up to 200 pages.

Those used to paying for public documents requested through the state's OPRA act will find the charges excessive -- by state regulation the charges for copying printed government documents are 75¢ each for the first ten pages, 50¢ each for the next ten pages and 25¢ for each page thereafter.