The federal government now requires all health care organizations to provide patients with access to their electronic health records, free of charge. The requirement is part of the 21st Century Cures Act, which was signed into law in 2016. Among its many objectives, the act focuses on improving quality of care and places a strong emphasis on providing patients with easy-to-understand, timely, and secure access to their health records.
Cooper is already compliant with the new federal requirements, as we have provided patients with access to their health records since 2012 at no cost. Patients may request health records through their myCooper account or by submitting a signed authorization form to Cooper. All requests for health records are reviewed by the Health Information Management department before being released to the requestor.
You can view Cooper’s policy regarding the release of electronic health records here.