“Health facility,” as used in this chapter, means any general acute care hospital required to be licensed pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1250) of Division 2.
Part 1.7HEALTH FACILITIES DISCLOSURE ACT]
Section § 440.10
This law defines the term “health facility” specifically as any general acute care hospital that needs to be licensed under certain regulations.
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Section § 440.20
This law requires health facilities to send a detailed bill of all charges for services provided to a patient to the primary doctor within seven days if requested. However, this applies only if the doctor is not employed by the facility or isn't part of a group that provided the services.
Within seven days after completion of the patient’s itemized bill, every health facility shall provide to the primary attending health care practitioner a copy, upon written request specifying the individual patient, of the complete itemized charges for services rendered by the health facility to the health care practitioner’s patient when the primary attending health care practitioner is not employed by the health facility nor is a member of an integrated group practice that provided the health facility services.
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Section § 440.30
This law section states that when a primary attending healthcare practitioner asks a healthcare facility to provide copies of medical records, they need to specify which records they want. Along with this request, they must include a fee, which can be up to $0.25 per page. Additionally, this fee may cover reasonable clerical costs for finding and preparing the records.
The primary attending health care practitioner’s written request to the health facility shall specify the records to be copied pursuant to Section 440.20 and shall include a fee to defray the cost of copying, not to exceed twenty-five cents ($0.25) per page, plus any reasonable costs of clerical services incurred in locating and making the records available.
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Section § 440.40
This law requires that the main healthcare provider get written consent from a patient before asking for the patient's billing information. The signed consent form must then be sent to the healthcare facility along with the request for the detailed billing records.
The primary attending health care practitioner shall obtain prior written consent from each patient for whom a billing is requested, authorizing the release of the patient’s billing. A copy of this signed patient consent form shall be forwarded to the health care facility as part of the written request for itemized billings.
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Section § 440.50
This law states that the only information that can be shared according to Section 440.20 is the itemized billing. Any other information that is restricted by other laws cannot be disclosed.
No information, other than the itemized billing set forth in Section 440.20, that is prohibited from being released by any other provision of law shall be made available pursuant to Section 440.20.
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