Getting your records from your office

You have the right to a copy of your records, and offices are used to the request. What slows it down is not knowing what to ask for.

This page says what to ask for. If you know which software your office uses, there is a page for it with the exact steps — forward that one to them, or print it.

Under HIPAA an office must give you a copy within 30 days, in the form you ask for when it can readily produce it.

What to ask for, whatever system your office uses

Documents and scans as PDFs: letters, referrals, treatment plans, consent forms, insurance explanations.
Images and X-rays as the original files (JPEG, PNG, TIFF, DICOM), not photographs of a screen or a printout.
The periodontal chart as data (XML or CSV) if the software offers it, and as a PDF if not.
Treatment history: the list of procedures with dates and codes, exported as data if the software offers it.
Lab reports as the PDF the laboratory sent.

Originals beat printouts, and data beats PDF. An X-ray file can be measured and compared; a photograph of one cannot.

A chart saved as XML or CSV can be read back into your record. The same chart as a PDF can only be looked at.

Which software does your office use?

Not sure? Ask the front desk — they will know the name straight away. Each page has the exact menu path, written for whoever does the export.