The Royal Women's Hospital processes requests for patient information from a wide range of health care providers to support the continuum of patient care.
Patient consent is obtained prior to the release of information, according to the relevant legislation.
Some examples of requests are:
- GPs requesting current pathology results for a patient they are treating.
- Hospitals requesting previous admission details and any drug sensitivities for a patient that has presented to their emergency department.
- A patient is moving interstate and would like to transfer her antenatal care notes to another hospital.
Requests are handled on a daily basis with urgent requests being processed promptly, usually within 2 hours. Download the release of information form.
Research requests
Requests for more than three medical records are considered research requests. A maximum of 20 records will be made available per week unless prior approval has been sought from a Health Information Manager.
To request research records, a Request for Research Records form must be completed (available from the Health Records & Information reception desk). Records will only be provided upon approval by the hospital's Research and Ethics Committee.
Requests for research records from external organisations attract a fee of $5.00 per record to cover the costs of retrieval, follow-up and re-filing of records.
External organisations must liase with the Research Clerk to ensure that any specific requirements are met prior to the retrieval of records. Records will be made available to view in the research area of our Health Records & Information Services.
It is important that the 'date required' is completed as each request is handled according to this date. Notification will be occur once the records are ready to be viewed. All records must be viewed within Health Records & Information Services.
We encourage researchers to view research records in a timely manner to ensure that records are available for other requests.
As medical records are active documents used by many staff, it is best that as much notice as possible is provided to Health Records & Information Service staff to enable the retrieval of requested records.