How to collect them
To evaluate treatment, injuries, and their connection to the event, our office needs complete certified medical records, preferably accompanied by a certification letter. Begin requesting them promptly.
Identify the providers and treatment dates.
Include the hospital, emergency department, primary-care physician, specialists, therapy and rehabilitation providers, laboratories, imaging centers, and pharmacies connected to the matter. Request relevant care before, during, and after the event.
Submit a written request and keep proof.
Identify the patient, treatment dates, and requested documents. Ask for acknowledgment of receipt and an itemized fee. Complete applicable identification or authorization requirements; if requesting another person’s records, establish your authority to receive them. Keep the request, receipt date, payment receipts, and every response.
Request the complete certified copy.
Request complete certified medical records, preferably accompanied by a letter from the records custodian certifying that the copy is true, accurate, and complete as to the available file. Include medical and nursing notes, orders, medications, laboratory results, images and reports, discharge records, and follow-up. Where applicable, also gather the death certificate, autopsy, and forensic reports.
Review and organize the records received.
Check the patient, providers, and requested dates. Identify missing pages, periods, or documents and request them in writing. Keep original files and their certification together. A discharge summary, partial portal download, or photographs of isolated pages may help initially, but do not replace the complete certified copy.
A certification letter is the office’s preferred way to document the copy received. Record certification does not establish negligence.