Disclosures

Patients & Visitors

Your privacy is very important to us and we protect your medical record information in strict accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). You may obtain copies of your medical records or authorize others to receive copies of your medical record information. Prior to release of medical records, we must receive a written request from the requester and a signed authorization from the patient.

The authorization of release information must include the following:

Drafted to Titus Regional Medical Center
Name of patient at time of treatment
Patient date of birth
Patient social security number
Specific dates of treatment
Information requested (history and physical, discharge summary, x-ray film, etc.)
Purpose of the information being requested
Name and address of person(s) to receive the information
Expiration date of the request (unless revoked or stated otherwise, authorization expires in 180 days)
Signature of the patient, parent if a minor or legal authorized representative

For further information, you may contact the Health Information Management Department at 903.577.6137 or our Privacy Officer at 903.577.6133

Medical Records Fees

In accordance with Texas State Health and Safety Code, Chapter 241 154(e), we charge the following fees for the retrieval and copy process of medical records:

Copies of paper records:

1st 10 pages: $35.00

Pages 11-60: $1.00 per page

Pages 61-400: $0.50 per page

Pages 401+: $0.25 per page

(Plus actual cost of mailing and shipping)

Copies of records stored in microfilm or other electronic medium:

1st 10 pages: $50.00

Pages 11+: $1.00 per page

(Plus actual cost of mailing and shipping)

Patients presenting in person with valid identification and authorization may receive an accounting of disclosure (a list of who has received your medical record information), and the first six pages of records or x-ray films FREE one time per calendar year. Please call in advance so that we may coordinate a pick-up date and time to better serve you.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are requiring every hospital to publicize a list of their standard charges online by January 1, 2019.

Our file includes average charges from our chargemaster by Diagnosis Related Group (which includes many of the treatments you would need for a certain condition grouped together), and is available here.

Our hospital determines its standard charges for patient services with the use of a chargemaster system, which is a list of charges for the components of patient care that go into every patient’s bill. These are the baseline rates for services provided at our hospital.

The chargemaster is similar in concept to the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) on a vehicle. It is the starting price of each service performed and goods consumed associated with the individual patient’s treatment. The chargemaster rates are updated from time to time to accurately reflect the hospital’s expenses to operate.

Standard charges shown in the attached file do not necessarily reflect what a patient may pay. The list of charges posted online is meant to meet a government requirement, and does not represent the totality of our efforts around price transparency or affordability. Government insurance plans such as Medicare and Medicaid do not pay the chargemaster rates, but rather have their own set rates which hospitals are obligated to accept. Commercial insurance payments are based on contract negotiations with managed care payors and may or may not reflect the standard charges.

Patients without commercial insurance or not covered by a government health care plan should contact the hospital prior to a procedure to discuss charges, alternative pricing, and payment terms. If you have questions about your cost of care, we encourage you to have one-on-one conversations with the Pre-Arrival Team at TRMC by calling 903-577-6271 or emailing us at billinginfo@titusregional.com with questions about costs for your medical needs.