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Here is a Sample Letter You Can Use to Formally Request Your Loved One’s Medical Records from ICU’s! Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care!
Today, I’m going to read out a letter or email to you that you can write to hospital executive or to hospital administration that will get you access to medical records, stay tuned!
My name is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com, and this is another quick tip for families in intensive care.
So, in my last video I said at the title, “What Medical Records to Request from an LTAC If You Want to Pursue a Medical Negligence Case?” Today, I actually want to look at how you can write to an LTAC or to an ICU to a hospital to get access to medical records. So you can use it, copy and paste, we’ve got a written version of this blog. It’s very simple for you to use.
So, let’s just get right into it. Here’s a sample that you can use to formally request your loved one’s medical records from an ICU or from an LTAC or from any hospital. You could send this via certified mail, email, fax, whatever. Hardly anyone uses fax anymore, but through to the patient records, medical records department, or health information management department.
So, put in your full name, address, phone number, email address, and the date. Put in the medical records department, to the hospital name, address, and so forth. Then, put in the subject line- request for complete medical records. Put in your loved one’s full name, patient’s date of birth, dates of care at the hospital, for example, from February 1st to 30th of April 2025, and then say,
“Dear Medical Records Department,
I’m writing to formally request a complete copy of the medical records for the above-named patient during their stay in your hospital and in your ICU. I’m the legal representative, next of kin, healthcare proxy for the patient, and I’m therefore authorized to request and receive this information.
Please include all medical records, both handwritten and electronic, including but not limited to: admission records and intake documentation, doctors and nursing progress notes, medication administration records, respiratory therapy notes and ventilator logs, vital sign logs and nursing assessments, laboratory and imaging reports, emergency response records, i.e. rapid response team, medical emergencies code blue, records of any transfer requests or ambulance calls, communication logs between staff and family, death summary and/or discharge summary. Any documents related to hospital policies and procedures affecting care, death certificate if applicable.
Please provide the records in electronic format, PDF on USB or encrypted email if available, or via app. If you require a fee, please notify me in advance.
This request is made under my rights granted by the state and federal healthcare laws.”
In the U.S., it’s HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), but in Australia, it would be Departments of Health. But in any case, you have full access in any jurisdiction to get access to medical records.
Lastly, in the letter or email, you can put in,
“If you need further confirmation of my authority or if you have any questions, you may contact me directly.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this request.
Sincerely,
Your name”
And with your sign and with your relationship to the patient.
Like I said, getting access to medical records is not a privilege, it is a right. I can tell you that if you’re the next of kin, power of attorney, proxy, whatever label you want to give it, our clients never have an issue in getting access to the medical records, never ever. I can only can’t stress this enough.
You will obviously have issues getting access to the medical records if you’re not the next of kin, if you’re not the power of attorney, if you’re not the proxy. But other than that, there’s no excuse for you not to get medical records. You need to make a lot of noise there, but it’s simple, very simple, and in this day and age, it should be no more difficult than sending you to an app and download medical records there or get access there or sending you to a website with a username and a password. It’s 2025, it’s not complicated.
I have worked in critical care nursing for 25 years in three different countries, where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years in critical care. I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com. I can very confidently say that we have saved many lives for our clients in intensive care.
You can verify that on our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com or if you go to intensivecarehotline.com podcast section where we have done client interviews and you can verify the work that we are doing there. Because our advice is absolutely life changing. I am not exaggerating in the sliders.
You can join a growing number of members and clients that we have helped over the years to improve their lives instantly when they have a loved one critically ill in intensive care so that they can make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure their loved ones get best care and treatment always.
That’s why I do one on one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation that you can’t afford to get wrong. And when I talk to doctors and nurses directly on your behalf or with you, you know I set you up with the right questions to ask. I ask all the questions that you haven’t consider asking but most be asked when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care.
I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams so that you have professional advocacy and consulting in a family meeting making sure you have a strong clinical voice on your team as well.
We also do medical record reviews in real time so that you can get a second opinion in real time. We also do medical record reviews after intensive care if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are suspecting medical negligence.
We also have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. You can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com, if you click on the membership link, or if you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in the membership area and via email, and we answer all questions intensive care related. In the membership, you also have exclusive access to 21 videos and 21 e-books that I have personally written and recorded and all of that will help you to make Informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always.
All of that you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or simply send us an email to [email protected] with your questions.
If you like my videos, subscribe to YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell, share the video with your friends and families and comment below what you want to see next, what questions and insights you have from this video.
I also do a weekly YouTube live where I answer your questions live on a show. You will get notification for the YouTube live if you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel, or if you are a subscriber to my intensivecarehotline.com email newsletter at intensivecarehotline.com.
Thank you so much for watching.
This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com, and I will talk to you in a few days.
Take care for now.
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