[Access to medical records: who asks and why?]

The aim of the survey was to study the characteristics of patients who (or whose families) request access to their medical records, their satisfaction with the handling of their requests, and the reasons for them.

This prospective study analyzed all the requests for access to medical records sent to two hospitals and collected data from the hospitals at that time (characteristics of the requester, patient and hospitalization) and from the requesters afterwards (opinion survey).

The study reviewed 94 requests for medical records. Delays in providing the records exceeded the statutory periods. Most requests were intended to allow continuity of care, to provide information the patient did not receive during hospitalization, or because the patient needed to transmit it to a third party (new doctor, insurance, attorney, worker compensation). The hospitals mailed records to patients by regular mail in 90% of cases. One third of the patients were not satisfied by the handling of their request, complaining about the following difficulties: length of wait for records, complexity of the request procedure, its expense, absence of some documents, and difficulty in understanding the files without medical assistance.

Improvements are needed, both to decrease the number of requests and to improve the requesters' satisfaction. Specific improvements are suggested.