Westlake Medical Arts Reviews (%countItem)
Westlake Medical Arts Rating
Address: 5656 Bee Caves Rd., West Lake Hills, Texas, United States, 78746
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I would like to lodge a complaint against Westlake Medical Arts,
Dr. ***k, and the officer manger, ***, ***, ***6
Phone: ***-***-***
I've been a patient of a nurse practitioner who has moved between a few practices since I moved to Austin, 18 years ago. My records have always followed her and were never an issue for me to be concerned about. Most recently, she had been in the practice at Westlake Medical Arts in Westlake, TX. I switched to a different nurse practitioner there on her referral due to her decrease in hours.
Now, both nurse practitioners have left the practice and are now with a new doctor. Westlake Medical Arts, or more specifically, the doctor, Dr. Eleanor ***, and the office manager, her husband, ***, have refused to send my records upon request from their current supervising physician.
I have requested the medical records, myself, and I’m told by *** that they will not be released to me, nor to my new doctor, without me paying a fee of $100. This is because of the thickness of the record and they will not release partial records. They have said, basically, that it’s all or nothing. They also will not release a digital or fax version for the rate of $25, as per the acceptable rate set by the TMB. I was told by their business manager that I'm asking for "charity,” if I am asking to pay anything less than the $100. I have multiple e-mails from *** that would be considered quite short of professional language toward me, most are quite condescending, when all I’m trying to do is get my medical records.
This is a very serious issue. We are in the midst of a health crisis and an economic crisis and I'm being told that, in order to have the best continuity of care, I have to pay an outrageous amount to have my practitioner be able to review my medical records.
I look forward to hearing your response and the result of this investigation.
Thank you!
Best,
***, Ph.D.
Westlake Medical Arts has been working with Dr. *** for multiple days to get her records to her new practitioner. Unfortunately, we are an all paper chart company, so we have to make physical copies of these records. The Texas Medical Board allows us to charge a reasonable rate for these records. Additionally, we do not take insurance and therefore are not a "covered entity" under HIPAA, under section 45 CFR 160.103. Therefore, the only law that governs provision of medical records is the Texas Medical Practice Act- chapter 159 of the Texas Occupations Code.
Pursuant to this rule, Westlake Medical Arts is required to provide electronic copies if they are "readily producible." Since we do not keep electronic records we do not have them readily producible, and therefore must give physical copies of the records. Furthermore, Westlake Medical Arts is entitled to withhold the records until the fee has been paid unless it has been requested for "emergency or acute" care. This is not the case with Dr. ***. We have received her request for records, have attempted to collect payment, have been denied but really do want to get these to her. We have been working with her and our lawyer for four days trying to get these records to her.
Ultimately, this complaint can be disproven through various email records and correspondences with Dr. ***. We have attempted many times to remedy this situation keeping in mind privacy rules and what we can do with paper charts. We continue to work with Dr. *** and our lawyer to get these items to her.
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
Attached are some of the e-mails that show that they are not being truthful in this matter.
Dr. ***, the medical director of the office, agreed yesterday to fax my records anywhere that I want for the fee of $25. So, they do, in fact have fax capability. At her request, I called the front desk yesterday and gave my credit card information to be charged for $25 and the fax number of my provider's medical office. I was told by *** at the front desk, after I gave my credit card information, that she would be faxing my records to my medical provider "right away." I thought the issue was resolved and was going to send you an update today to tell you that all is well now. However, the records were never received by my practitioner and there was no response this morning regarding my e-mail inquiring when my practitioner might expect to receive the fax. I called and was told by *** that she could not fax the records to my provider because they are not allowed to fax anything to my provider, but they can fax anywhere else. As I do not have a secure fax, I cannot have them faxed to me. E-mail would be fine, but, as they said, they are not set up for e-mail, although they have sent me sensitive e-mails before. I would like them faxed to my provider. They have now asked me to pick up my paper record in person. As I live 45 minutes from the office, work from home, and am supervising distance learning of my grandchildren, this would be quite an ordeal. In addition, I would then need to find a way to get the records then to my provider prior to our telehealth meeting next week. I called back and was told by their assistant at the front desk, Tomie, that the attorney for Westlake Medical Arts has told them not to fax anything to my provider's office. The fax at my provider's office is a HIPPA approved fax and is used for prescriptions with the pharmacy. So, any personal issues they may have with my provider is not my business. I'm a patient asking for my records. According to the The Texas Administrative Code notes RULE §131.66: Patient Transfer Policy, I may request my records be sent anywhere. (Please see #9 below) And their reasoning that they cannot fax is a lie if they are telling me that they are willing to fax, just not to that office. This is in opposition to the e-mail sent by Dr. *** yesterday, telling me that they would fax anywhere.
(9) The facility's policy shall recognize the right of an individual to request a transfer into the care of a physician and a hospital of the individual's own choosing.
Furthermore, I am reporting the unprofessional behavior of the office manager, ***, who accused me of asking for "charity," as I questioned the $100 fee for my records, and his comment with regard to my practice as a psychologist: "Not sure what your billing rate is, but it seems that you have spent an inordinate amount of unbillable time relative to the cost of a copy of your medical records attempting to educate me about our business and the English language."
The way that the office is handling this matter is, both, unethical and unprofessional. I expect my records to be faxed to my provider with the $25 fee, as per the cost of digital transfer of records per the Texas Medical Board, ASAP, so that I may receive the best continuity of medical care possible. I have signed a release of information to my provider and the office at WMA was provided with that.
Regards
This situation is incredibly unfortunate. After speaking to our legal representation, we were told we cannot fax anything because our records are paper charts and they are not readily producible in that format. When we learned new information and best practice, we had to rescind what was communicated. We apologize for the miscommunication but are happy you now have your medical records.
Westlake Medical Arts is not a covered entity under HIPAA 45. CFR 160.103. Therefore, the only law that governs the release of medical records is Texas Administrative Code, specifically, 22. Tex Admin Code 165.2. Pursuant to this rule, Westlake Medical Arts must provide medical records in a readily producible way, and electronic is not readily producible for us. The deadline to provide medical records is 15 business days after the receipt of the consent and fee. We received the payment for the records on Wednesday, and delivered the paper copies of the records on Thursday.
We apologize for the continued back and forth, but are happy this situation as been resolved.
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
This information is not true and is not the information that was stated to me. I was told as recently as yesterday, point blank, that the records could be faxed anywhere that I want them EXCEPT for my provider's office, as they have some beef with my provider. This was offered to me yesterday afternoon, to have my records faxed to my own fax. I don't own a fax and so I could not accept the records that way. I made such a fuss about it that the office manager wanted to appease me and hand-delivered the records directly to me. When she hand-delivered them to me, she told me that the records could not be faxed to my provider at the suggestion of the attorney of Westlake because my provider was a former employee/contractor of the practice, but it would have been OK to fax them anywhere else.
In addition, the cost that was quoted to me for my records was $100 and it was only because of my report to the Revdex.com and the Texas Medical Board, as well as quoting the laws surrounding my right to my medical records, giving the impression that I had sought the advice of an attorney, after 3 days of bullying and very inappropriate, unprofessional comments to me by ***, the husband of the medical director of the practice, including that I was asking for "charity" and that I was wasting my "billable hours" and should just pay the $100, that he records were brought to me for $25. The $100 was not a accurate amount based on the Texas Medical Board fee for copies. I counted the pages and it would have cost $87.50 based on the maximum fee stated by the Texas Medical Board. So, they were out of compliance with that.
Finally, no one should ever have to go through this to get their own medical records sent to their medical practitioner in order to have the best continuity of medical care. This is bad practice, unethical, and not in the best interest of the health of the medical patients.
Regards