Providing patients access to their clinical record: MCNZ guidance

The Medical Council of New Zealand has responded to frequently asked questions about patients requesting copies of their medical records.

In summary, the Medical Council has clarified the following.

• Patients have the right to access their health information, regardless of the reason.
• Practices should be guided by the patient’s preference as to the format of the copy of their record, i.e. electronic or hard copy, however:
  • discuss the potential risks of a hard copy, e.g. more likely to be lost, misplaced or accessed by someone unintended compared to electronic records. Raising awareness of possible risks can help patients to make an informed decision about how they would like to receive their records.
• Patients cannot generally be charged by practices for providing their medical records (including hard copies), unless:
  • the patient has requested the same information within the past 12 months; or
  • the request involves making copies of X-rays, video recordings, MRI scans, PET scans, or CAT scans due to the associated costs.

View the questions and full responses, here.

For more information, visit the Medical Council website.