By Lori Basheda, Kaiser Health News When Kelly Shanahan had her OB-GYN practice in South Lake Tahoe, she was meticulous about providing medical records promptly to all patients who requested them, she said. But since being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2013, an event that forced her into retirement, Shanahan has discovered that not all of her doctors are as attentive to such requests. Getting copies of her records has been, as she puts it, `a colossal pain.` With few exceptions, federal law requires that health care providers make copies of medical records available within 30 days after patients request them and, when possible, in the format they desire. Under California law,...
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