Can I request my parent’s records myself?

Only with your parent’s permission, such as a signed authorization or an access request that names you, or with legal authority such as a health care power of attorney or guardianship.

How much can a hospital charge for copies?

HIPAA allows a reasonable, cost-based fee for copies, but not a fee for searching or retrieving records. Ask the records office for the fee before it sends the copies.

Can the hospital refuse because of an unpaid bill?

HHS guidance says a provider may not deny a patient access to their records because of unpaid bills for health care services.

What if the records office never answers?

Follow up by phone and in writing. If the right of access is still not respected, your parent can file a complaint with the HHS Office for Civil Rights.

How to get a parent’s medical records without a patient portal

November 6, 2026 · 5 min read · Vita Health Coach

The short answer

Without a patient portal, ask the hospital’s medical records office for copies. Under HIPAA your parent has a right to their records and can have copies sent to you, or can sign an authorization that lets the office release them to you. The office generally must respond within 30 days and may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

Who to ask: the medical records office

Every hospital has a team that handles copies of records. It is often called health information management, or HIM, and the step of sending records out is called release of information. At a small clinic or a single doctor’s office, the front desk or office manager usually handles it.

Start on the hospital’s website. Search for medical records or release of information. Most hospitals post a request form, an address, a fax number, and sometimes an online request page that does not need a portal account. If you cannot find it, call the main number and ask for the medical records office.

If your parent was seen at a clinic that belongs to a larger health system, the system’s central records office may handle requests for all its sites. If a practice has closed, the state medical board or health department can sometimes tell you who now holds the old records.

Your parent’s right, and how you can use it

HIPAA, the federal health privacy law, gives every patient a right to see and get copies of most of their health records. This is called the right of access. It covers records like test results, visit notes, imaging reports, medicine lists and billing records.

There are two common ways for you, as the adult child, to get copies. Your parent can make an access request and ask that the copies be sent to you. Or your parent can sign a HIPAA authorization, a form that names you and allows the hospital to release records to you. Either way, your parent decides.

The right covers records the hospital uses to make decisions about your parent. That can include results from outside labs or other doctors that were sent to the hospital and placed in its file.

If your parent cannot make decisions, a personal representative, such as a health care agent named in a power of attorney or a court-appointed guardian, can usually make the request instead. Bring copies of the legal papers.

What to put in the request

A clear request gets a faster answer. Use the hospital’s form if it has one, since it will list what the office needs. If you write your own, include the items below.

Keep a copy of the signed request and note the date you sent it. That makes follow-up calls much easier.

Your parent’s full name, date of birth, and any former names.
Your parent’s address and phone number.
Which records you want, such as lab results from a date range, a discharge summary, or imaging reports.
Dates of care, or the name of the clinic or doctor.
Where to send the copies, and in what format: paper, a disk, a secure download, or email.
Your parent’s signature and date, or yours with proof of legal authority.
A phone number for questions.

How long it takes and what it can cost

Under HIPAA, the office generally must provide the records within 30 days of the request. If it needs more time, it can take up to 30 more days once, but it must tell your parent in writing why and when the records will be ready. Many offices are faster, especially for electronic copies.

The office may charge a reasonable fee based on its cost of making copies, such as labor for copying, supplies and postage. HHS guidance says it may not charge for searching for or retrieving the records. HHS guidance also says a provider may not refuse access just because a bill for care is unpaid. Ask about the fee up front so there are no surprises.

Paper, electronic, or a secure link: choosing a format

Your parent has a right to the records in the form and format they ask for, if the hospital can readily produce it. If the records are kept electronically, your parent can ask for an electronic copy. That is often faster, cheaper, and easier to keep than a box of paper.

If you ask for copies by regular email, the hospital may warn that email is not fully secure. Your parent can still choose it after hearing the risk. A secure download link or a disk is a safer middle ground.

Imaging is a special case. The written report from a scan is part of the record, but the images themselves are usually copied to a disk or shared through a download link by the imaging department. Ask for both if a new doctor needs to see the pictures.

Paper copies still have a use. A printed discharge summary or medicine list is handy to bring to a new doctor.

If the request is slow or denied

If 30 days pass with no answer, call the records office and ask for the status. Write down who you spoke with and the date. A polite follow-up solves most delays.

A provider can deny access only for limited reasons, such as psychotherapy notes or information gathered for a lawsuit. A denial should come in writing with the reason. Some denials can be reviewed by another licensed professional on request.

If you believe the right of access was not respected, your parent can file a complaint with the HHS Office for Civil Rights, the federal office that enforces HIPAA. Complaints are generally due within 180 days of when you learned of the problem.

How Vita Health Coach helps

If you get paper copies, you can add them to Vita Health Coach, an iPhone and iPad app from VitaMedas, Inc., by taking a photo of each page. The report goes into your parent’s own file, next to anything that came in from a hospital patient portal. You can then ask about any result by voice or text, and the short answer comes first: can this wait, or is it time to see a doctor. Vita explains health information and never diagnoses or prescribes. It is free to try, with paid plans in the App Store.

Questions people ask

Can I request my parent’s records myself?: Only with your parent’s permission, such as a signed authorization or an access request that names you, or with legal authority such as a health care power of attorney or guardianship.
How much can a hospital charge for copies?: HIPAA allows a reasonable, cost-based fee for copies, but not a fee for searching or retrieving records. Ask the records office for the fee before it sends the copies.
Can the hospital refuse because of an unpaid bill?: HHS guidance says a provider may not deny a patient access to their records because of unpaid bills for health care services.
What if the records office never answers?: Follow up by phone and in writing. If the right of access is still not respected, your parent can file a complaint with the HHS Office for Civil Rights.

Sources

Vita Health Coach is an iPhone app that keeps a parent’s hospital results in their own file and explains each new one in plain words. Free to try; paid plans in the App Store.

Vita Health Coach on the App Store

General health information, not medical advice. Vita Health Coach explains; it never diagnoses. In an emergency, call 911 or your local emergency number. Read the medical disclaimer.