Can patients request a personal copy of the information contained in the record?
The full content of the medical record is available to a patient upon written request, with some rare exceptions. Specifically, a physician is not obliged to provide information that carries the risk of causing substantial harm to the patient or another individual. The physician may also choose not to provide copies of reports that were carried out as a third party assessment of a patient’s medical condition – I.e. an independent medical assessment associated with WorkSafe BC, ICBC, pension groups, or an insurance company. The patient can, however, request copies of this information directly from the third party assessor.
