List of Forms and Contact Details Required to Request Medical Records From Brigham and Women's Hospital (2026)
Requesting medical records from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) means working with Mass General Brigham's centralized Release of Information (ROI) service, plus separate contacts for images, bills, and chart corrections. For personal injury attorneys, knowing which form to use and where each piece of the record lives can save a lot of back-and-forth with corrected authorizations and missing materials. Law firms looking to take this off their plate can use Codes Health for AI-powered medical record retrieval that checks authorizations before submission and keeps following up until records arrive.
Key Takeaways
BWH uses MGB's centralized ROI service for standard requests, while some MGB organizations have separate procedures
The ROI unit is reachable at 617-726-2361 (phone) or 617-726-3661 (fax), and authorizations go by mail or fax, not email
For a HIPAA access request, the hospital generally must provide access or issue a written denial within 30 calendar days, with one 30-day extension allowed under specific notice conditions
Effective October 1, 2026, Massachusetts maximum copying rates are a $30.68 base charge, $1.03 per page for the first 100 pages, and $0.53 for each additional page
Radiology reports can be requested through ROI, but image or film copies go through BWH imaging, and hospital bills go through Billing Customer Service
Incomplete or invalid authorizations can delay processing, and Codes Health's AI review helps reduce preventable rejections before submission
Understanding Your Rights: How to Request Your Own Medical Records
Online Portals: Instant Access to Your Health Information
BWH patients can view test results, visit summaries, and clinical notes through the Mass General Brigham Patient Gateway portal. Patients can also request records through Patient Gateway using Menu > Request Records. Records displayed in the portal may differ from the full scope available through an access request.
For litigation, the portal is a helpful starting point for reviewing what's available and spotting treatment dates, but it's not a substitute for a complete records request.
Paper Requests: When Digital Isn't an Option
Patients who can't use the portal, or who need older records, can submit a written authorization. The current BWH form (marked 06/24) asks for:
Full legal name (including maiden name if applicable)
Date of birth
Current mailing address and phone number
Medical record number, if available
Date ranges for the requested records
Types of records needed (office visits, lab results, radiology reports)
Recipient information for third-party releases
Patient signature and date
The form expires six months after signing unless a different timeframe is specified. Keep copies of every authorization you send for follow-up.
Navigating the Process: Brigham and Women's Hospital Medical Records Request Form
Where to Find the Official Form
BWH's authorization is available in multiple languages through the Mass General Brigham medical records page. The English version is a downloadable PDF you can fill in electronically or by hand.
If your client was treated at more than one MGB hospital, such as Massachusetts General Hospital and BWH, use the consolidated MGB/Partners authorization rather than treating the BWH form as interchangeable. MGB lists separate instructions for some organizations, so check the page before you submit.
Key Sections to Complete Accurately
These are the sections that most often need attention:
Patient Identification Section
Full legal name
Date of birth and current contact information
Medical record number, if available
Records Specification Section
Date ranges for the records you need
Types of records requested (check all applicable boxes)
Delivery method preference
Mail or fax the authorization; do not email the records request. Secure email may be selected for delivery.
Authorization Section
Patient signature (or an authorized representative's signature with documentation)
A signed, dated, unexpired authorization
Expiration date (optional; defaults to six months)
Avoiding Common Request Delays
Incomplete or invalid authorizations can delay processing and require correction. Determine the applicable deadline based on the request's legal basis, since an authorization-based disclosure isn't the same as a patient's own access request. Common errors include:
Missing or illegible patient signatures
Incomplete date ranges that leave records unspecified
Sensitive record categories left unaddressed in Section D
Expired authorizations reused from earlier requests
Incorrect recipient information for third-party releases
Contacting the Records Department: Phone Numbers and Other Contact Details
Centralized Mass General Brigham Contact Information
BWH uses MGB's centralized ROI service for standard requests; some organizations have separate procedures.
Primary ROI Contact Information:
Phone: 617-726-2361
Fax: 617-726-3661
Mailing Address: 121 Inner Belt Road, Room 240, Somerville, MA 02143-4453
BWH General Inquiries:
Phone: 617-732-5500 (main hospital line)
Hospital Bills:
For hospital bills, contact Billing Customer Service at 617-726-3884. MGB notes that its Medical Records Department can't provide hospital bills.
Imaging and Radiology Records
Request radiology reports through ROI. For image or film copies, contact BWH imaging at 617-732-7180; fax 617-732-5300.
This split catches a lot of requesters off guard. A standard records request can cover written radiology reports, but the actual images need their own request to the imaging department.
Chart Correction Requests
Patients who find errors in their records can request corrections here:
Phone: 857-282-9736
Fax: 857-282-8110
Email: HIMChartcorrection@partners.org
The hospital generally must act within 60 days, with one permitted 30-day extension. If it denies the amendment, it must explain why and describe the patient's right to submit a disagreement statement, under 45 CFR § 164.526.
Retrieving Older Records: How to Get Old Medical Records From Brigham and Women's Hospital
Understanding Record Retention Periods
Massachusetts hospital medical records generally have a 20-year minimum retention period following discharge or final treatment. Certain underlying materials, including radiological images, have a five-year minimum when their interpretive reports are retained in the medical record, under 105 CMR § 130.370. These are minimum periods, not a guarantee that BWH keeps every historical item.
When requesting older records, include specific dates of service to help the facility locate archived materials.
Special Procedures for Archived Information
Older records stored off-site may take longer to pull. For a HIPAA access request, the hospital generally must provide access or issue a written denial within 30 calendar days. One additional 30-day extension is allowed if written reasons and a completion date are provided before the initial deadline. A few practical steps help:
Give specific dates of service for archived records
Ask whether an extension notice applies to your request
Ask for an itemized estimate of any applicable charges
Accessing Records from Previous Hospital Affiliations
BWH has gone through organizational changes over the decades, including its integration into Partners HealthCare (now Mass General Brigham). Ask ROI whether records from the relevant treatment dates and predecessor facility remain available and who holds them.
HIPAA Compliance: Ensuring Secure and Authorized Medical Records Release
Your Rights Under HIPAA
Under the HIPAA access rule, the hospital generally must provide access or issue a written denial within 30 calendar days of a patient's access request. One additional 30-day extension is allowed if written reasons and a completion date are provided before the initial deadline.
Patients also have the right to:
Receive records in their preferred format (paper or electronic) if readily producible
Direct copies to third parties
Request an accounting of disclosures made by the hospital
File complaints with the HHS Office for Civil Rights if access is denied improperly
Elements of a Valid HIPAA Authorization
A valid HIPAA authorization under 45 CFR § 164.508 includes, among other things:
A description of the information to be disclosed
Identification of who may disclose the information
Identification of the authorized recipients
The purpose of the disclosure
An expiration date or event
The right to revoke, and how to do it
Statements about conditioning of treatment and potential redisclosure
Signature and date, plus a description of a representative's authority where applicable
The simplest approach is to complete the current official BWH form rather than relying on an abbreviated checklist.
Releasing Records to Third Parties
For routine law-firm retrieval, obtain an appropriate patient authorization unless another lawful disclosure pathway applies. Requirements differ for treatment, payment, and other permitted disclosures.
Third-Party Requests: Medical Records Release for Legal Needs
Requests from Legal Firms and Litigators
Personal injury attorneys requesting records for clients should submit a signed patient authorization that names the law firm as recipient and states the purpose (for example, "personal injury litigation").
Legal requests typically include:
A signed, dated, unexpired patient authorization naming the firm as recipient
An optional cover letter on firm letterhead, unless ROI requests one
Date ranges relevant to the case
A separate request to Billing Customer Service for hospital bills
Sensitive Record Categories Requiring Special Authorization
Certain record types need explicit consent beyond a standard release. Complete Section D of BWH's form for applicable sensitive records. Additional consent or legal restrictions may apply. Categories include:
HIV test results (Massachusetts HIV statute)
Substance use disorder treatment (42 CFR Part 2)
Mental health treatment records
Genetic testing information
Sexual assault counseling records
Social worker records
Domestic violence counseling records
If a sensitive category isn't authorized, those records may be left out of the release even when the date range covers the relevant treatment.
Streamlining Legal Record Requests: An Integrated Approach for Law Firms
The Challenges of Manual Legal Record Retrieval
Handling record requests manually puts a real load on law firms. Every request means filling out forms, tracking submissions, making follow-up calls, checking for completeness, and organizing documents. Multiply that across dozens or hundreds of cases and the admin work adds up fast.
Common pain points include:
Authorization problems caused by minor form errors
Tracking request status across multiple facilities
Incomplete records delivered without notice of missing materials
Separate workflows for images, bills, and clinical records
No visibility into provider follow-up attempts
Benefits of Automated Request Validation
Codes Health reviews authorizations before submission. The system automatically flags:
Missing or illegible signatures
Incomplete date ranges
Unaddressed sensitive record categories
Incorrect provider information
Expiration date issues
This pre-submission validation helps reduce preventable authorization rejections. Codes Health advertises 80% less manual review, 50% more case capacity, and 1.7x larger settlements. These are company-reported figures; the reviewed page does not provide a study methodology, and individual results may vary.
Ensuring Complete Records for Litigation
Beyond retrieval, Codes Health checks delivered records against the original request and known patient history. When records look incomplete, the team works with the facility to resolve gaps before returning materials to your firm. Codes Health reports a general average turnaround of a couple of weeks; that's not a BWH-specific promise, and individual requests vary.
That completeness check matters because a hospital may deliver a partial set without flagging what's missing, leaving attorneys unaware of a gap until expert review or trial prep exposes it.
Massachusetts Medical Record Fees
Knowing the fee rules helps with case budgeting. Effective October 1, 2026, the published Massachusetts maximum copying rates under Massachusetts records law are:
Base charge: $30.68
Pages 1 to 100: $1.03 per page
Pages 101 and up: $0.53 per page
Cost Examples (assuming the state schedule applies and excluding any other lawful charges):
50-page ER record: $82.18
200-page hospital record: $186.68
Applicable federal patient-access restrictions may require lower charges. For patients requesting electronic copies of electronically maintained records, a provider may use an optional flat fee of up to $6.50 or another permitted cost-based calculation, per HHS fee guidance. Confirm the applicable charge before ordering.
Distinguish requests for patients' own copies from requests directing delivery to a law firm. Different fee rules can apply. Ask for an itemized estimate of any applicable charges.
The Massachusetts fee exemption applies to requests made solely to support qualifying Social Security or financial-needs-based benefit claims, and reasonable supporting documentation may be requested.
Why PI Firms Use Codes Health for BWH Retrieval
BWH spreads a single client's records across MGB's ROI unit, a separate imaging department, a separate billing office, and different forms for single-hospital and multi-hospital requests, so one case can mean several requests to track. Codes Health pulls that work into a single retrieval workflow for your firm:
AI validation before submission that helps reduce preventable authorization rejections
Multi-channel follow-up through calls, faxes, emails, patient portals, and custodian integrations until records arrive
Completeness verification that checks delivered records against the original request
Flat fee pricing, with included services and the treatment of third-party provider or custodian charges confirmed in your agreement
Filevine integration, launched through a July 13, 2026 partnership, so firms can submit requests, track status, message the Codes Health team, and receive records and billing inside the case file (Filevine integration)
Custom integrations with CRM platforms and other medical software for high-volume customers
On same-day retrieval: Codes Health's position is that competitors advertising same-day retrieval often return only the records that are immediately available, not the complete set. That pulls clients back in to help chase what's missing, which Codes Health says contributes to client churn. Codes Health instead focuses on delivering complete records in weeks, not months.
On general AI tools: General-purpose AI platforms like ChatGPT are not designed for litigation-grade medical record review. Codes Health combines medical record retrieval, completeness checks, and case-analysis features in a workflow built for plaintiff law firms, with AI-generated insights reviewed by human specialists and potential breaches of care flagged for attorney review.
Codes Health's MIT-educated engineering team continuously builds out additional workflows and products, so the platform keeps evolving, improving, and becoming more comprehensive to meet the changing demands of modern legal practices.
Bottom Line
Most BWH record delays come from preventable problems: emailing an authorization instead of mailing or faxing it, using the BWH form for a multi-hospital request, leaving Section D blank, expecting images or bills to arrive with the clinical record, or applying patient-access fee rules to a law-firm request. Each is easy to miss when your team is juggling several cases.
Using the current form, routing images and bills separately, confirming fees, and reviewing what comes back keeps your timeline in your control. To hand that work off, schedule a demo and see how Codes Health handles BWH retrieval.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the typical turnaround time for medical record requests from Brigham and Women's Hospital?
For a HIPAA access request, the hospital generally must provide access or issue a written denial within 30 calendar days, with one 30-day extension allowed if written reasons and a completion date are provided before the initial deadline. Authorization-based requests to a law firm may follow different rules, so confirm the expected timing with ROI. Codes Health reports a general average turnaround of a couple of weeks and helps reduce preventable authorization rejections through pre-submission review.
Can I request medical records for a family member at Brigham and Women's Hospital?
Yes, if you have the patient's authorization or applicable representative authority. Parents can generally request a minor child's records, with exceptions for certain minor-consented care, and a guardianship order isn't universally required. For incapacitated adults, a healthcare proxy or court-appointed guardian provides supporting documentation. For deceased patients, an executor or administrator of the estate can request records with appropriate legal documentation.
What should I do if I believe my medical records from BWH are incomplete?
Compare the delivered records against your original request to pin down the gaps. Contact the ROI unit at 617-726-2361 about missing materials. If images are absent, confirm that a separate request went to BWH imaging at 617-732-7180, and request hospital bills from Billing Customer Service at 617-726-3884. Document all communications and follow up in writing if problems persist.
Is there a fee for requesting medical records from Brigham and Women's Hospital?
There can be. Effective October 1, 2026, Massachusetts maximum copying rates are a $30.68 base charge, $1.03 per page for the first 100 pages, and $0.53 per page after that. For patients requesting electronic copies of electronically maintained records, a provider may use an optional flat fee of up to $6.50 or another permitted cost-based calculation. Different fee rules can apply when records go to a law firm. The fee exemption applies to requests made solely to support qualifying Social Security or financial-needs-based benefit claims.
How do I request radiology images from Brigham and Women's Hospital?
Request written radiology reports through ROI. For image or film copies, contact BWH imaging at 617-732-7180 (phone) or 617-732-5300 (fax), and make sure your authorization covers the images you need.
