Dive Brief:
- Three New York health organizations as well as a health IT firm are being sued for allegedly violating state law regarding the fees they charge for medical records, Healthcare IT News reports.
- The lawsuit alleges that Beth Israel Medical Center, Montefiore Medical Group, Mount Sinai Hospital and HealthPort Technologies overcharged patients and customers by up to $0.50 per page.
- New York law states that the cost of medical records can't be more than the actual cost of production.
Dive Insight:
If the charges are true, millions of dollars are at stake. In 2013, HealthPort processed more than 14 million pages of medical records for lawyers in New York. According to Healthcare IT News, HealthPort overcharged for services by about $7 million each year for medical records requested by attorneys. That would not only be a violation of New York law, but it would also be a potential HIPAA violation.