How to get your medical records?

© WikiMedia (Wikimedia) 1 Olive Hill, KY, June 2, 2010 – Medical records in a local dentist’s
© WikiMedia (Wikimedia)
Get the doctor’s OK
In order for you to gain medical access to your records, you have to send a request for them.

Once you make a request the doctor has to agree to this request. Even though you may say "Those are my medical records", doctors still have to give you permission.

Note
If the "Ok" is given, then some offices may charge you to get copies of the medical files.

When getting an "Ok", many people give up easily and will not pursue the second step necessary to obtain their medical records.
Contact the State Medical Board
If your request is denied then you will need to contact your state’s medical board.

How?
You will be required to send in a request by way of mail to your doctor.

Duration
This process can take anywhere to a month to be completed. After a month you may still find that your request has been denied.

What to do?
You can notify your doctor that you will need their response in a timely fashion so that you are not forced to wait a number of weeks for a response. Make sure that you stand your ground and you do not give in easily as all of this hard work would have been for nothing.
Superior Court
You may find out that for whatever reasons you still are unable to gain access to your medical records. If you have tried all of the various methods then your only method left to try may be the Superior Court.

As a last resort
You can take your case to the Superior Court to be heard. This will make your case a part of the Court’s public records and will be added to your doctor’s profile.

This is why many doctors may not let it get to this step. If this method for some reason fails you can also file a complaint.