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1 | AN ACT concerning civil law.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | changing Section 8-2001 as follows:
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6 | (735 ILCS 5/8-2001) (from Ch. 110, par. 8-2001)
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7 | Sec. 8-2001. Examination of health care records.
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8 | (a) In this Section: | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | "Health care facility" or "facility" means a public or
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10 | private hospital, ambulatory surgical treatment center, | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | nursing home,
independent practice association, or physician | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | hospital organization, or any
other entity where health care | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | services are provided to any person. The The term
does not | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | include a health care practitioner.
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15 | "Health care practitioner" means any health care | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | practitioner, including a physician, dentist, podiatrist, | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | advanced practice nurse, physician assistant, clinical | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | psychologist, or clinical social worker. The term includes a | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | medical office, health care clinic, health department, group | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | practice, and any other organizational structure for a licensed | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | professional to provide health care services. The term does not | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | include a health care facility.
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23 | (b) Every private and public health care facility shall, |
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1 | upon the request of any
patient who has been treated in such | ||||||
2 | health care facility, or any person, entity, or organization | ||||||
3 | presenting a valid authorization for the release of records | ||||||
4 | signed by the patient or the patient's legally authorized | ||||||
5 | representative, permit the patient,
his or her health care | ||||||
6 | practitioner,
authorized attorney, or any person, entity, or | ||||||
7 | organization presenting a valid authorization for the release | ||||||
8 | of records signed by the patient or the patient's legally | ||||||
9 | authorized representative to examine the health care facility
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10 | patient care records,
including but not limited to the history, | ||||||
11 | bedside notes, charts, pictures
and plates, kept in connection | ||||||
12 | with the treatment of such patient, and
permit copies of such | ||||||
13 | records to be made by him or her or his or her
health care | ||||||
14 | practitioner or authorized attorney. | ||||||
15 | (c) Every health care practitioner shall, upon the request | ||||||
16 | of any patient who has been treated by the health care | ||||||
17 | practitioner, or any person, entity, or organization | ||||||
18 | presenting a valid authorization for the release of records | ||||||
19 | signed by the patient or the patient's legally authorized | ||||||
20 | representative, permit the patient and the patient's health | ||||||
21 | care practitioner or authorized attorney, or any person, | ||||||
22 | entity, or organization presenting a valid authorization for | ||||||
23 | the release of records signed by the patient or the patient's | ||||||
24 | legally authorized representative, to examine and copy the | ||||||
25 | patient's records, including but not limited to those relating | ||||||
26 | to the diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, history, charts, |
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1 | pictures and plates, kept in connection with the treatment of | ||||||
2 | such patient. | ||||||
3 | (d) A request for copies of the records shall
be in writing | ||||||
4 | and shall be delivered to the administrator or manager of
such | ||||||
5 | health care facility or to the health care practitioner. The
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6 | person (including patients, health care practitioners and | ||||||
7 | attorneys)
requesting copies of records shall reimburse the | ||||||
8 | facility or the health care practitioner at the time of such | ||||||
9 | copying for all
reasonable expenses, including the costs of | ||||||
10 | independent copy service companies,
incurred in connection | ||||||
11 | with such copying not to
exceed a $20 handling charge for | ||||||
12 | processing the
request and the actual postage or shipping | ||||||
13 | charge, if any, plus: (1) for paper copies
75 cents per page | ||||||
14 | for the first through 25th pages, 50
cents per page for the | ||||||
15 | 26th through 50th pages, and 25 cents per page for all
pages in | ||||||
16 | excess of 50 (except that the charge shall not exceed $1.25 per | ||||||
17 | page
for any copies made from microfiche or microfilm; records | ||||||
18 | retrieved from scanning, digital imaging, electronic | ||||||
19 | information or other digital format do not qualify as | ||||||
20 | microfiche or microfilm retrieval for purposes of calculating | ||||||
21 | charges); and (2) for electronic records, retrieved from a | ||||||
22 | scanning, digital imaging, electronic information or other | ||||||
23 | digital format in a electronic document, a charge of 50% of the | ||||||
24 | per page charge for paper copies under subdivision (d)(1). This | ||||||
25 | per page charge includes the cost of each CD Rom, DVD, or other | ||||||
26 | storage media. Records already maintained in an electronic or |
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1 | digital format shall be provided in an electronic format when | ||||||
2 | so requested.
If the records system does not allow for the | ||||||
3 | creation or transmission of an electronic or digital record, | ||||||
4 | then the facility or practitioner shall inform the requester in | ||||||
5 | writing of the reason the records can not be provided | ||||||
6 | electronically. The written explanation may be included with | ||||||
7 | the production of paper copies, if the requester chooses to | ||||||
8 | order paper copies. These rates shall be automatically adjusted | ||||||
9 | as set forth in Section 8-2006.
The facility or health care | ||||||
10 | practitioner may, however, charge for the
reasonable cost of | ||||||
11 | all duplication of
record material or information that cannot | ||||||
12 | routinely be copied or duplicated on
a standard commercial | ||||||
13 | photocopy machine such as x-ray films or pictures.
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14 | (e) The requirements of this Section shall be satisfied | ||||||
15 | within 30 days of the
receipt of a written request by a patient | ||||||
16 | or by his or her legally authorized
representative, health care | ||||||
17 | practitioner,
authorized attorney, or any person, entity, or | ||||||
18 | organization presenting a valid authorization for the release | ||||||
19 | of records signed by the patient or the patient's legally | ||||||
20 | authorized representative. If the facility
or health care | ||||||
21 | practitioner needs more time to comply with the request, then | ||||||
22 | within 30 days after receiving
the request, the facility or | ||||||
23 | health care practitioner must provide the requesting party with | ||||||
24 | a written
statement of the reasons for the delay and the date | ||||||
25 | by which the requested
information will be provided. In any | ||||||
26 | event, the facility or health care practitioner must provide |
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1 | the
requested information no later than 60 days after receiving | ||||||
2 | the request.
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3 | (f) A health care facility or health care practitioner must | ||||||
4 | provide the public with at least 30 days prior
notice of the | ||||||
5 | closure of the facility or the health care practitioner's | ||||||
6 | practice. The notice must include an explanation
of how copies | ||||||
7 | of the facility's records may be accessed by patients. The
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8 | notice may be given by publication in a newspaper of general | ||||||
9 | circulation in the
area in which the health care facility or | ||||||
10 | health care practitioner is located.
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11 | (g) Failure to comply with the time limit requirement of | ||||||
12 | this Section shall
subject the denying party to expenses and | ||||||
13 | reasonable attorneys' fees
incurred in connection with any | ||||||
14 | court ordered enforcement of the provisions
of this Section.
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15 | (Source: P.A. 94-155, eff. 1-1-06; 95-478, eff. 1-1-08 (changed | ||||||
16 | from 8-27-07 by P.A. 95-480); 95-480, eff. 1-1-08.)
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