Crozer Health patients won’t have to pay to access medical records under new agreement
Patients were being charged $35 to $75 to obtain their records.
Former Crozer Health patients are expected to soon have free access to medical records following an agreement reached as part of Prospect Medical Holdings’ bankruptcy proceedings.
The agreement, which has not been finalized, would remove all per-record fees ex-patients have been paying since early July, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday’s office said in a statement. It was not immediately clear when the change would go into effect, but Sunday said former Crozer patients should hold off on requesting records in order to avoid paying fees once the agreement is put into action.
“While our efforts to keep open Crozer facilities were unfortunately unsuccessful, we continue to advocate for impacted Pennsylvanians who are evaluating options for healthcare,” Sunday said.
Following the closures of Crozer Health facilities earlier this year, patients were temporarily able to obtain medical records generated at Crozer Health facilities free of charge, Delaware County Council said in a statement. But on July 9, former patients began encountering fees when requesting documents — either $35 for emailed records, or $75 for records stored on a USB memory stick. Paper copies were not made available.
In a letter to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stacey Jernigan last week, Delaware County Council denounced the fees, calling them “a barrier for Delaware County residents” that impacted “senior citizens on fixed incomes” in particular. Chester health commissioner Kristin Ball Motley filed a similar letter, noting that residents who face financial barriers wouldn’t be able to obtain their records, and therefore could not make appointments with new healthcare providers.
The Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that it likewise notified the court of the fees and cited state and federal law that governs charges for medical records, leading to the agreement this week. Delaware County Council and the county health department were not party to the agreement, officials said.
Roughly 43,000 patients are expected to benefit. The fees could cost some families hundreds of dollars, depending on how many records they need, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
“These fees were outrageous and should never have existed,” Delaware County Council chair Monica Taylor said in a statement. “Our residents, especially our seniors, have already endured the loss of vital healthcare services. To then be forced to fight for access to their own medical records is unconscionable.”
Sunday’s office, meanwhile, noted that another announcement would be made when the agreement is finalized.
Prospect Medical Holdings last month filed a motion to abandon Taylor Hospital and Delaware County Memorial Hospital, claiming that the properties are burdensome and of inconsequential value. Since then, an unnamed potential buyer has stepped forward for Taylor Hospital, while Upper Darby School District has agreed to buy Delaware County Memorial Hospital.
Those deals, however, have not yet been finalized, and both properties could be abandoned if agreements are not reached, The Inquirer previously reported.
The fates of the Prospect-owned Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Springfield Hospital remained unclear following a hearing earlier this week.