Where to get hospital birth records?

[lovemysunshine]

I've been trying off-and-on to get my records from my DD's birth 3 years ago (started while planning my hb for #2). I called the insurance I had at the time, Kaiser, and they never sent my records. Then I called back and they sent them, but none of the records from my birth were in there!

Are they trying to keep them from me or do I need to be contacting the actual hospital to get them? The guy I talked to never told me the hospital records would not be included and he knew that's what I wanted. I want to know what they say!

[BelgianSheepDog]

Knowing Kaiser more likely than not it's just their incredibly ineffective bureaucracy at work. If I were you I'd send a written request to the hospital as the next step.

[~member~]

I had to go to the actual hospital and then they wanted to charge me over $100 to get copies.

The second hospital birth didn't charge me, but I asked for them while I was still in the hospital, so I think it was added to the bill.

[lovemysunshine]

Oh, I believe that about Kaiser unfortunately. I will try another written request to them then.

And I cannot believe the hospital would want to charge $100 for the hospital records. Well, I can believe it, but sheesh, ridiculous! I wonder what they'll charge me for them here?

The thing that is different for me I think is that I didn't actually deliver at the Kaiser hospital, it was one they contracted with because it was closer to my home. I don't know if that makes a difference with records and whatnot since it's sort of out of their neat little system they have going.

Thanks for the help!

[maxmama]

That's definitely part of it. I delivered at Group HEalth (very similar to and contracted with Kaiser), but my prental care was out of system, and to get my records for that I had to contact my MW directly. Each hospital keeps their own records regardless of your insurance status, so if you delivered out of system, that's who you need to talk to.

They can and do charge "reasonable copying costs". One way to skip that is to have your provider's office request the records. They'll get there faster and they'll be free.

[USAmma]

Try asking your OB instead. I got my dd's birth notes through his office.

[pageta]

I just called my hospital, told them I wanted my medical records, they transferred me to that department, and I got them. I also got my records from my doctor, and they only contained the information from our visits at that office.

Your insurance doesn't necessarily have your medical records. They will only have them if there was some question about paying an item on your bill. Medical records are not submitted to the insurance company unless the insurance company requests them. I used to work in the billing department of a hospital and we never submitted medical records to an insurance company unless they were contesting the charges on a bill we had submitted. Your doctor may have some, but not necessarily what the hospital has.

If you want your hospital medical records, then you need to call the hospital at which the medical procedures (birth, surgery, whatever) were done.

[rmzbm]

I wanted my records from the birth of my 3rd baby & had to get them from my OB. She tried to put me off & I actually threatened legal action. She knew WHY I wanted them. : I did get them though.

[maxmama]

Originally Posted by pageta

Your insurance doesn't necessarily have your medical records. They will only have them if there was some question about paying an item on your bill. Medical records are not submitted to the insurance company unless the insurance company requests them. I used to work in the billing department of a hospital and we never submitted medical records to an insurance company unless they were contesting the charges on a bill we had submitted. Your doctor may have some, but not necessarily what the hospital has.

If you want your hospital medical records, then you need to call the hospital at which the medical procedures (birth, surgery, whatever) were done.

Yes, but Kaiser and Group Health are both HMOs that provide care as well as pay for it, and in-system records are kept by the insurance company in this case, since the insurance company and the provider are one.

[lovemysunshine]

Originally Posted by rmzbm

I wanted my records from the birth of my 3rd baby & had to get them from my OB. She tried to put me off & I actually threatened legal action. She knew WHY I wanted them. : I did get them though.

That is just wrong!

I think I'm going to call Kaiser's records office one more time and ask why the hospital records weren't in my packet (that I already paid a lot for : ). Hopefully I can get through to them sometime this week though; they're impossible to actually find a real live body working there. Then I should be able to contact the hospital if Kaiser doesn't have them. Asking my mw to request them may work (and save time and money), depending on how much it will cost. Thanks!

[SoCaliMommy]

I have Kaiser and if you want a copy of your records you have to submit a form and pay them $$ to get a copy:

[lovemysunshine]

Originally Posted by DustysSweety03

I have Kaiser and if you want a copy of your records you have to submit a form and pay them $$ to get a copy:

Have you done this? I'm wondering because I already submitted the forms, stating on them that I specifically wanted my hospital records from the birth, and all they sent me were the notes from my chart from the OB. :

[pageta]

Originally Posted by maxmama

Yes, but Kaiser and Group Health are both HMOs that provide care as well as pay for it, and in-system records are kept by the insurance company in this case, since the insurance company and the provider are one.

I still would contact the location where the baby was born. Insurance has to do with billing, and medical records have to do with care. You may be dealing with the same company (technically speaking), but you probably aren't dealing with the same location.

My doctor sees me in his office, but the billing for his practice is done elsewhere in town. When I wanted to get my medical records from him, I didn't contact the phone number on my bill - I called the office directly and I got my medical records from the office.

Kaiser may own the place where the baby was born, but the billing department and the department that handles medical records are two different departments. I would think that you would have better luck getting your records if you contact the department that has your records.

But no, I have not dealt with Kaiser...

[lovemysunshine]

The weird thing about Kaiser is that they store all their records at a central place. So all my records were kept throughout my pg at their San Diego records storage. I remember going in once and they didn't have my records sent up that time by mistake, so the OB had nothing to go on~ that aspect seems silly, but I guess they like not having to store it all in the offices.

[SoCaliMommy]

No i haven't yet but i need to request them since i want a copy from my sons birth.

[lovemysunshine]

Good luck with it; hopefully you won't get the runaround like me.

[pageta]

Well then Kaiser is weird...in more than one way. I don't know many companies that would haul their medical records all over town. Medical records files are generally much thicker than billing records. Your file, just for the birth of your baby, could be an inch thick or more (including printouts from monitors, etc.). We archived them electronically and shredded the originals in order to save space. Otherwise I am sure they would have needed off-site storage in order to store them all.

[SoCaliMommy]

Originally Posted by pageta

Well then Kaiser is weird...in more than one way. I don't know many companies that would haul their medical records all over town. Medical records files are generally much thicker than billing records. Your file, just for the birth of your baby, could be an inch thick or more (including printouts from monitors, etc.). We archived them electronically and shredded the originals in order to save space. Otherwise I am sure they would have needed off-site storage in order to store them all.

Kaiser does everything by computers so if i want a copy from my sons birth at the kasier in harbor city.. i have to call the # listed for
"Release of records"