Who owns my medical records?

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QUESTION: Who owns my medical records?

ANSWER: 

The Privacy Act doesn't deal with questions of copyright or ownership of medical records.

Generally, the health service provider who creates a medical record owns that record.  This doesn't interfere with your right to access your record, because ownership and access rights are separate.

Under the National Privacy Principles (NPPs) in the Privacy Act, you have a right to access health information about you that is held by a private sector health service provider. Even though a provider may own the record, they can only refuse you access to it if an exception under NPP 6 allows this.

Generally the Privacy Commissioner considers that access should be given in the form requested by the individual, such as a copy or an accurate summary.

For detailed information on denial of access, see Information Sheet 4 and Information Sheet 21

Related FAQs

Can an organisation charge an individual a fee for providing access to the individual's medical records and how much should that fee be?

I think my doctor has charged me too much to give me access to my medical records. What can I do?