Responding to a records subpoena or request

Two ways a chart gets asked for

In California a patient’s records usually leave a practice one of two ways: an attorney presents the patient’s written authorization before a case is filed (Evid. Code §1158), or a party to a civil case serves a subpoena for the patient’s “personal records” (Code Civ. Proc. §1985.3). The rules for each are different, and so is the clock.

An attorney with the patient’s authorization — Evid. Code §1158

Before an action is filed, when an attorney or their representative presents a written authorization signed by the patient (or the patient’s guardian, conservator, parent of a minor, or a deceased patient’s representative or heir), the medical provider “shall promptly make all of the patient’s records under the medical provider’s custody or control available for inspection and copying” (§1158(b)).

Failure to make the records available during business hours within five days of the authorization may make the provider liable for the reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, of enforcing the section (§1158(d)).

If the records are kept electronically and an electronic copy is requested, they are provided in the form and format requested if readily producible, or otherwise in a readable form the provider and requester agree on (§1158(g)). The statute also sets what reasonable costs may be charged, and prescribes an authorization form the provider must accept when it is valid (§1158(e), (h)).

A subpoena for personal records — Code Civ. Proc. §1985.3

Physicians, clinics, hospitals, physical therapists and chiropractors are among the “witnesses” whose consumer records this section covers (§1985.3(a)(1)).

Before production, the subpoenaing party must serve the patient with the subpoena and a notice explaining how to object, at least 10 days before the production date and at least five days before serving the records custodian (§1985.3(b), (e)). Before records are produced, the witness must receive either proof of that service or the patient’s written authorization to release the records (§1985.3(c)).

A patient who objects may move to quash or modify the subpoena, or serve a written objection, before the production date (§1985.3(g)). Watch for that objection before you produce.

Producing a chart you can stand behind

Whatever the route, the practical test is the same: can you show exactly what you produced, to whom, and when — and produce it again identically if asked? Number the pages, keep an index of what each production contained, and attest the copy.

How ChironAI™ OM helps

OM builds a Bates-numbered, attested PDF or ZIP of the chart, with numbering continuous per patient across productions, keeps an index of what was already disclosed, and delivers the production to counsel by a one-time link whose landing page shows no PHI.