Medical Records — Access, Format & Cost

You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of the protected health information (“PHI”) we maintain about you. This includes records we create at Dr. Rizvi Wound Care and records we received from other providers that we use to treat you (for example, hospital discharge summaries, lab and imaging reports, and prior wound-care notes).

Your right of access applies to records held in any form: paper charts, electronic health records, scanned documents, secure email correspondence, wound photographs, and clinical measurements stored in our practice management system. The federal Office for Civil Rights publishes plain-language guidance on this right at hhs.gov/hipaa .

We will not require a reason for your request, will not ask you to come into the office to make a request, and will not condition your request on payment of an unrelated bill.

You can request a copy of your records in any of the following ways:

• In person. Stop by the front desk at 7709 San Jacinto Place, Suite 100, Plano, TX 75024. We will give you the authorization form and help you complete it.
• By mail. Send a signed written request to Dr. Rizvi Wound Care, attention Medical Records, 7709 San Jacinto Place, Suite 100, Plano, TX 75024.
• By phone. Call us at 972-491-1200. We will mail or email an authorization form to you the same business day.
• By secure email. Email a signed authorization to Info@DrRizviWoundCare.com
  Compose email

  • Default mail app
  • Gmail
  • Outlook
  • Yahoo Mail
  • Copy email
  .
• Through the patient portal. If you have an active portal account, you can download many parts of your record (visit summaries, labs, imaging reports) directly. For complete copies or older records, please still submit a written request so we can verify your identity and produce the file.

If you would like us to send the records directly to another provider, family member, attorney, or insurance carrier, write that on your authorization. We send records securely (encrypted email, fax, or mail).

For most requests we ask you to sign a HIPAA-compliant authorization. The form captures the information federal and Texas law require: who is requesting, what records, the purpose, where to send them, an expiration date, and your signature.

Texas patients may also use the Texas Attorney General's authorization form, which is designed to comply with Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 181 (the “HB 300” law). We accept either our internal form or the Texas Attorney General's form. If you would like a copy of the form, ask the front desk or email Info@DrRizviWoundCare.com

and we will send one in the format you prefer.

You can revoke an authorization at any time, in writing. The revocation does not apply to disclosures we already made before we received it.

Texas Health & Safety Code §241.155 sets the timing rules we follow:

• Records kept electronically: we deliver within 15 business days of receiving a complete written request and any required fee.
• Records kept on paper: we deliver within 30 days. HIPAA also caps our response at 30 calendar days, with one possible 30-day extension if we tell you in writing why.
• Urgent clinical need: if you tell us a record is needed for an upcoming visit, surgery, or hospital admission, we will move faster whenever we can. Most of the time we can release a critical record the same business day.

If we ever cannot meet a deadline, we will tell you in writing why and give you a specific date by which we will deliver the records.

Texas Health & Safety Code §241.155 sets the maximum we may charge for paper copies of medical records. The current schedule is:

• Up to $25 for the first 20 pages retrieved.
• An additional $0.50 per page after the first 20.
• A reasonable, cost-based fee for records produced in electronic format.
• Actual postage if you ask us to mail the records.
• Reproduction cost for radiology images, ECG strips, photographs, or other non-paper materials.

Under HIPAA and current OCR guidance, your first electronic copy of records you ask us to send to you or to a third party you designate may be provided at little or no cost. We will tell you the expected fee in writing before we produce the copies, so you can decide how to proceed. Patients experiencing financial hardship can ask us to waive the fee; we review each request individually.

We do not charge a fee to retrieve, review, or transmit records we send directly to another treating provider for your continued care.

You can ask us to provide your records in any of the following formats:

• Printed paper copies, mailed or picked up in person.
• Accessible PDF, sent by encrypted email or downloadable from the patient portal.
• A USB or CD copy you pick up at the office.
• Direct electronic transmission to another provider, hospital, or attorney you name in writing.
• Large-print, audio, or other accessible formats on request (see our Accessibility Statement).

We provide the records in the form and format you ask for if it is readily producible. If we cannot produce your preferred format, we will offer a reasonable alternative and explain why.

Your record at our practice includes more than visit notes. You also have the right to request:

• Wound photographs. We take clinical photographs of wounds at most visits to track healing. They are part of your record and you can request copies. You can also ask us to stop using a particular image (for example, in a teaching set) and we will honor that request.
• Skin substitute and biologic device records. When we apply a skin substitute, cellular tissue product, or other regulated biologic, we keep the lot number, expiration, manufacturer, and the date applied. You can request these details, and we will also send the same information to another provider on your behalf.
• Negative-pressure (wound-vac) and DME records. Orders, prescriptions, and progress notes related to durable medical equipment that we prescribed are part of your record.
• Home-health correspondence. Notes and updates we receive from a home-health agency that cares for you become part of your record and are available the same way.

Manufacturer notices about a tracked device or biologic (for example, a recall or safety update) are also part of your record. Ask us and we will send you copies.

For most care provided to a minor, the minor's parent or legal guardian controls access to the minor's record. A parent or guardian can request the minor's record using the same process as an adult patient.

Texas Family Code Chapter 32 lets minors consent to certain limited types of care on their own (for example, certain pregnancy-related care or treatment for sexually-transmitted infections). When a minor consents to care without a parent, that part of the record may be released only to the minor unless they authorize otherwise. Psychotherapy notes, when they exist, are excluded from the right of access under HIPAA. Our wound-care practice does not maintain psychotherapy notes.

HIPAA protects the records of a deceased patient for 50 years after the date of death. During that period, the deceased patient's personal representative (the executor or administrator of the estate) has the same right of access the patient had during life.

Under the Texas Estates Code, an independent executor, dependent administrator, or court-appointed guardian of the estate can request records. We ask for a copy of letters testamentary, letters of administration, or a similar court document before we release records of a deceased patient. Family members who are not the personal representative can still receive information that was relevant to their involvement in the patient's care, unless the patient told us in advance not to share it.

If you believe information in your record is wrong or incomplete, you can ask us to correct it. Send a written request to the Privacy Officer below and tell us:

• The specific record, date, and statement you want corrected.
• What the correct information is.
• Why you believe the existing information is wrong.

We will respond within 60 days, as required by 45 CFR §164.526. We may extend once by 30 days and tell you why. If we agree, we will correct the record and note the change. If we deny the request (for example, because the information was created by another provider, or because we believe it is accurate and complete), we will explain why in writing and tell you how to file a written statement of disagreement that becomes part of the record.

Some categories of health information have heightened protection under federal or Texas law. When any of these apply, we follow the more protective rule:

• HIV and other sexually-transmitted-infection results are protected by Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 81. We require a specific authorization that names this information.
• Mental-health information. Mental-health treatment information is protected by federal and Texas law and may require a separate, specific authorization.
• Psychotherapy notes kept separate from the rest of the record are excluded from the HIPAA right of access. Our practice does not maintain psychotherapy notes.
• Substance-use-disorder records generated by a federally-assisted substance-use program are protected under 42 CFR Part 2 when those rules apply.
• Genetic information is protected under the federal Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).

If your request involves a sensitive category, our Privacy Officer will tell you what additional authorization is needed and help you complete it.

HIPAA allows us to deny access in a small number of situations (for example, psychotherapy notes; information compiled for a legal proceeding; certain information that could endanger you or another person). If we deny your request, we will tell you in writing within 30 days, explain the specific reason, and tell you how to:

• Have the denial reviewed by another licensed health-care professional, when the law requires that option.
• File a complaint with us, with the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, or with the Texas Attorney General.
• Submit a written statement of disagreement that becomes part of the record.

If only part of your record falls under a denial reason, we will release the rest.

For broader Texas legal context on medical-records access, the Texas State Law Library publishes a research guide at guides.sll.texas.gov/medical-records.