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| Georgia General Assembly |
SB30.html
01 SB30/AP
Senate Bill
30
By: Senators Ray of the 48th, Kemp of the
3rd and Tanksley of the 32nd
AS PASSED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 33 of Title 31 of the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated, relating to health records, so as to require a heath record
to be furnished within a reasonable time frame; to change provisions relating to
furnishing copies of a record; to change provisions relating to costs of copies;
to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 33 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to health records, is amended by striking subsection (b) of Code
Section 31-33-2, relating to furnishing a copy of records to a patient or
provider, and inserting a new subsection (b) to read as
follows:
"(b)
Any record requested under subsection (a) of this Code section shall be
furnished within a reasonable period of time to the patient, any other provider
designated by the patient, or any other person designated by the
patient."
SECTION 2.
Said chapter is further amended by striking Code Section
31-33-3, relating to costs of copying and mailing health records, in its
entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the
following:
"31-33-3.
(a)
The party requesting the patient´s records shall be responsible to the
provider for the costs of copying and mailing the patient´s record. A
charge of up to $20.00 may be collected for search, retrieval, and other direct
administrative costs related to compliance with the request under this chapter.
A fee for certifying the medical records may also be charged not to exceed $7.50
for each record certified. The actual cost of postage incurred in mailing the
requested records may also be charged. In addition, copying costs for a record
which is in paper form shall not exceed $.75 per page for the first 20 pages of
the patient´s records which are copied; $.65 per page for pages 21 through
100; and $.50 for each page copied in excess of 100 pages. All of the fees
allowed by this Code section may be adjusted annually in accordance with the
medical component of the consumer price index. The Office of Planning and
Budget shall be responsible for calculating this annual adjustment, which will
become effective on July 1 of each year. To the extent the request for medical
records includes portions of records which are not in paper form, including but
not limited to radiology films, models, or fetal monitoring strips, the provider
shall be entitled to recover the full reasonable cost of such reproduction.
Payment of such costs may be required by the provider prior to the records being
furnished. This subsection shall not apply to records requested in order to
make or complete an application for a disability benefits
program.
(b) The rights granted to a patient or other
person under this chapter are in addition to any other rights such patient or
person may have relating to access to a patient´s records; however,
nothing in this chapter shall be construed as granting to a patient or person
any right of ownership in the records, as such records are owned by and are the
property of the
provider."
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are
repealed.