How Do I Get a Copy of My Workers' Comp Medical Records in California?

How do I get a copy of my workers' comp medical records in California?

Put your request in writing to the office that holds the records. California law sets a firm response window and a limited fee for your own doctor's records, though the rest of your claim file works differently.

After a work injury, you may want your own copy of the file: for a second opinion, a Social Security disability claim, a new doctor, or simply to see what is in it. California gives you a real legal right to that copy, on a fixed timeline and at a capped cost.

This page covers how you personally request a copy. A separate question is who else, your claims administrator, a defense attorney, or a medical evaluator, can see those same records without asking you first; that question has its own answer and its own set of rules. If what you actually want is your WCAB case status rather than your medical file, our EAMS case search guide covers that different kind of record.

Two different requests often get confused. One is your treating doctor's own chart. The other is the full workers' comp claim file your claims administrator keeps, which can include things your doctor never had. The next sections cover both.

How do I request records from my treating doctor?

Put it in writing. The office has 5 working days to let you inspect your file, and 15 days to send copies.

Health and Safety Code section 123110 gives you, as an adult patient, the right to inspect your own patient records. Present your request to the health care provider. The office must then let you inspect the file during business hours within 5 working days. Ask for copies instead, and the office must send them within 15 days of your written request. Ask for an electronic copy of records kept electronically, and the office must give you that format when it can. If not, it can offer another format you both agree on.

Is it normal to pay for my own medical records?

Yes, within a capped amount. A provider cannot refuse to hand over your records just because you owe a bill.

Section 123110 caps the fee a provider may charge: 25 cents a page for a paper copy, or 50 cents a page for anything copied from microfilm, plus limited costs for supplies, postage, or a summary you specifically requested. The same law says a provider cannot withhold your records over an unpaid bill for care. One wrinkle worth knowing: an attorney requesting your records with your signed authorization, instead of you asking directly, uses Evidence Code section 1158 instead. That law sets its own, different per-page fee. The number you see can depend on who is doing the asking.

How long are my medical records kept in California?

If a provider closes its practice, state law requires at least 7 years of record-keeping. There is no single number for every provider that stays open.

Health and Safety Code section 123145 requires certain licensed providers, if they stop operating, to keep patient records for at least 7 years after your last visit, or until a minor patient turns 19, whichever is later. Leaving patients without access to records after closing counts as abandonment, and the law allows a lawsuit over it. Many offices that stay open keep records this long or well beyond it, but no single statewide number covers every active provider. If you need something older, ask the specific office; some will still have it.

Who legally owns my medical records?

Your provider keeps and controls the physical or electronic file, but California law gives you a clear right to see and copy it.

California's Legislature built this whole set of rules around a simple idea, stated directly in Health and Safety Code section 123100: a person responsible for their own health care decisions also has a right to the information behind those decisions. The chart or file itself stays in the provider's custody. Your right is a right of access, inspection, and copying, not a right to take the original. In practice, that access right is what actually matters when you need your own records.

What about the rest of my workers' comp claim file, not just my doctor's records?

The law in the sections above binds health care providers, not your claims administrator. Ask the claims side separately for the rest of the file.

Section 123105 defines "health care provider" as hospitals, clinics, physicians, chiropractors, physical therapists, psychologists, and similar licensed providers, not an insurance company or a third-party claims administrator. If you want everything in your claim file, including material your doctor never saw, a written request to the claims administrator, or a request through your attorney, is the more direct path.

When does a lawyer help with getting your workers' comp medical records?

Most often when a request gets ignored past the deadline, or when you need the full claim file before a QME exam or a deposition.

A short review helps most when a written request to your doctor's office passes the 5 or 15 day mark with no response, when the fee quoted looks far above the statutory cap, or when you want your whole claim file reviewed before a medical evaluation or a deposition. For the wider list of situations where a lawyer tends to make the biggest difference, see our page on hiring a workers' comp attorney.

Eman Yazdchi helps injured workers request and organize their own medical and claim records before a key step in the case, not after. Yazdchi Law P.C. serves injured workers across California from its office in Palmdale. Call (661) 273-1780 or use the contact form if a records request has stalled. The firm reviews each matter individually.