Thousands of patients formerly treated by Delaware County-based Crozer Health hospitals will have free access to their medical records, said Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday.
The announcement comes after an agreement and subsequent ruling this week by a federal bankruptcy court judge. Currently, Crozer Health’s patients must pay a fee per record. The agreement, which will eliminate those fees, is expected to go into effect soon.
Officials said earlier this year, Prospect Medical Holdings closed all Crozer Health facilities and services citing years of mismanagement which led to bankruptcy. The Office of the Attorney General is a party in Prospect’s bankruptcy proceedings and notified the court that Crozer patients, including Medicaid patients, were encountering fees to get their medical records.
The Attorney General’s office cited federal and state laws regulating fees in coming to a resolution that would allow some 43,000 patients to have access to their medical records for free. The Foundation for Delaware County agreed to contribute funding that would cover costs related to the records access. In some cases, patients with multiple records faced fees in the hundreds of dollars.
“While our efforts to keep open Crozer facilities were unfortunately unsuccessful, we continue to advocate for impacted Pennsylvanians who are evaluating options for healthcare,” Attorney General Sunday said. “Among those expected to benefit from this recent resolution are Medicaid patients who cannot afford unexpected fees just so they can have access to records needed to continue care elsewhere.”