How to Correct Errors in Your Medical Records

By law, you have the right to correct errors in your medical records. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ensures that your medical records are private. Another important part of this law allows you to request amendments to your medical record if you find errors.

This article takes a closer look at how to correct errors in your medical records. It covers whether you can have a diagnosis removed from your records, how to update contact information, and what to expect from your healthcare provider once you make a request.

Reviewing Your Records

While many patients are not interested in looking at their own medical records, it is a good idea to do so. According to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, almost one in 10 people who access records online end up requesting that they be corrected for a variety of reasons.

Some healthcare systems will provide you with a patient portal that provides easy access to all of your medical records within that system. Even if you don't have that type of access, you are entitled to look at your medical records and obtain copies. Sometimes there is a cost for getting copies of your records.

Once you have your medical records, you can review them. If you see any inaccuracies, you can determine whether they are important and require an amendment.

Types of errors can include the following:

• Typographical spelling errors may or may not require correction. For example, if "mesenteric" is incorrectly spelled "mesentiric," you might not go through the trouble of having it corrected because it won't impact your health or medical care.
• Errors in the spelling of your name do require correction because this can prevent your records from being shared properly among different providers, and it can affect payment for services.
• If your phone number or address is incorrect or outdated, make sure it gets corrected immediately. Failure to do so will result in the wrong information being copied into future medical records or an inability for your medical team to contact you if needed.
• Any inaccurate information about your symptoms, diagnosis, or treatment should be corrected. For example, if your record says that you have temporal tumor instead of a testicular tumor, this is completely different and requires correction.
• If the record says your appointment was at 2 p.m., but you never saw the healthcare provider until 3:30 p.m., that may not have any bearing on your future health or billing information needs, and it isn't worth correcting.

Overall, you have to make your own judgment about which parts of your medical record need to be corrected if you find errors. If you are on the fence, it is better to correct something than to leave it incorrect.

Making Your Request

Contact the hospital or your payer to ask if they have a form they require for making amendments to your medical records. If so, ask them to email, fax, or mail a copy to you.

Sending in Your Request

Be clear and concise, and write the correction exactly as you think it should be noted. The goal is to make it very easy for your provider's office to amend your records.

Make a copy of the page(s) where the error(s) occur. If it's a simple correction, then you can strike one line through the incorrect information and handwrite the correction. By doing so, the person in the provider's office will be able to find the problem and make the correction easily. If they sent you a form to fill out, you can staple the copy to the form.

If the correction is complicated, you may need to write a letter outlining why you think it is wrong and what the correction is. The letter should include some basics, such as your name and the date of service of your letter. Staple your letter to the copy of the page that contains the error.

Your Provider's Responsibility

The provider or facility must act on your request within 60 days but they may request an extension of up to 30 additional days if they provide a reason to you in writing.

Your provider is required to inform you that they have accepted or denied your request for an amendment in a timely manner. If you requested that other providers, business associates, or others involved in your care are also informed of the amendment, your provider must inform them as well.

Your providers are not required to make the change you request. If they deny your request, they must notify you of their decision in writing and keep a record of your request and their denial in your medical records.

There are a number of reasons that your request could be denied. For example, some patients request that information about drug use, sexually transmitted diseases, violent outbursts, or other sensitive topics be removed.

However, most providers will refuse to remove this information because it has an effect on your health and medical treatment.

Disputing a Denied Request

If your provider has denied your request, you have a right to send a statement of disagreement. This written statement will also be added to your medical records. Be prepared for the possibility that your provider will also respond with a written rebuttal.

Summary

It is your legal right to correct errors in your medical records. After obtaining your records from a patient portal, review them carefully and check for errors. Once you identify something you want to change, contact your healthcare provider and request a form for making amendments.

Be clear with your request. Upon receiving it, your provider will have 60 days to act on your request. Your provider is not required to make the requested change. If it is denied, you will receive a written notification. If you wish to dispute the denial, you will need to send another written statement.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

1. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Your medical records.
2. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Individuals' use of online medical records and technology for health needs.
3. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. The HIPAA privacy rule: patients' rights. privacyrights.org

By Trisha Torrey
Trisha Torrey is a patient empowerment and advocacy consultant. She has written several books about patient advocacy and how to best navigate the healthcare system.

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