Public Notice Required When Closing a Practice
Patients will benefit from continuity of care
A new Illinois law requires physicians to give the public 30-days written notice when closing a practice. This notice must include a detailed description of how patients can obtain copies of their medical records. The goal: to ensure that the new physician or treatment facility has immediate access to vital medical records, so that patient care is not disrupted.
According to another Illinois law, physicians may charge their patients a copying fee for providing this service (see chart).
2003 copying fees (per page): |
|
| Handling charge | $ 20.48 |
| Copy pages 1 through 25 | $ 0.77 |
| Copy pages 25 through 50 | $ 0.51 |
| Copy pages in excess of 50 | $ 0.26 |
| Copies made from Microfiche or Microfilm | $ 1.28 |