Question re one's rights regarding access to medical records

Factual Questions
1

Real quick, because it’s past my bedtime…

In the US, does one have a general right to obtain copies of results from any blood tests, hearing tests, eye tests, etc. done on oneself?

The reason I ask is that I asked my parents if they wouldn’t mind having their hearing tested and giving the results to my wife and I. Our son, the Little Lagomorph, has a partial hearing loss. My wife found out he may be eligible for a clinical trial, but one of the requirements for the trial is hearing test results for the subjects parents and grandparents.

My parents went to their primary cares, got referrals to ENTS, who referred them to audiologists for the actual tests. My father has been tested (mom, not yet) but getting the actual results has taken what seems to be a long time. When asked about this, my father said the audiologist was only going to send the results to the ENT, who would then forward the results to our son’s ENT, for eventual consideration as to eligibility in the clinical trial. I asked him if he was going to get a copy of the results, and he said the audie was reluctant to send them to anyone other than the doctor who referred him. He didn’t seem to believe me when I told him that he, as the person being tested, had a perfect right to a copy of the results from said test.

Well, doesn’t he?

Mrs. Lagomorph and I have had a lot of experience with this kind of thing in the last 2+ years and have generally experienced no problem in getting results from any test the Little Lagomorph has undergone, from a primary care, ENT or audiologist. Occasionally we encounter some feeble resistance, but usually there is no problem. I am talking about audiograms and the like, which is essentially raw data, not asking for any professional’s notes or interpretations of said data.

2

Well. he has a general right to access to his medical records, but it is not an absolute right to have all records immediately handed over to him upon request. Test results which are ordered by a physician generally need to go back to the doc for review first, on the assumption that the results should be placed in context with the patient’s history in mind. Some testing places/doctors offices etc. are a bit more stringent than others.

The short answer is that yes, he should be able to get the info, and if the doc (or whoever) places too many obstacles in the way, its time to complain (and/or get a new doc). But remember, the medical record of Mr. John Doe does not legally belong to Mr. John Doe, it belongs to the doctor who has put it together, at the implied request of, and for the purpose of, caring for Mr. John Doe.

QtM, MD

3

Thanks, Qadgop. I guess either my wife and I are really pushy, or the people we have been dealing with have been more pliant.

By the way, I realize now there is a typo in the OP. In case there is any confusion, my parents got referrals to otolaryngologists, not Onodrim!

4

hmmmmmmm hooooooooooooom!