SB359

Senate Bill 359 amends Arkansas law regarding the accessibility and costs associated with obtaining medical records for legal proceedings or insurance purposes. The bill establishes a clear fee structure for both physical copies and electronically stored medical records. For electronic records, the bill sets a flat production fee of $75.00 plus actual postage costs, which are explicitly stated as the only permissible charges for such requests. For non-electronic records, it increases the allowable labor charge from $15.00 to $25.00, in addition to existing per-page photocopy fees. The legislation mandates that providers must furnish records in an electronic format if they already exist in that form and sets a 30-day production deadline for electronic requests. It also clarifies the rights of patients to access their records, including procedures for when a doctor denies access based on health concerns, and affirms that federal HIPAA and HITECH standards apply to these requests. Finally, the bill allows courts to award reasonable attorney's fees to patients who are forced to use the subpoena process to obtain their records after having made reasonable prior requests.