List of Forms and Contact Details Required to Request Medical Records From Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (2026)
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is one of the country's largest pediatric health systems, with 724 beds in use and more than 1.6 million outpatient visits in fiscal 2025. For personal injury attorneys handling cases involving minor patients, understanding CHOP's medical record request process is essential for timely case evaluation and demand package preparation. But manually requesting, tracking, and verifying records from a facility this size can eat up time that should go to case strategy. Codes Health offers AI-powered medical record retrieval that manages multi-channel provider outreach, catches authorization errors before they cause delays, and reports an average turnaround of a couple of weeks for complete records.
Key Takeaways
CHOP uses its Authorization to Release/Obtain Patient Information form (MR-109) for standard authorization-based record requests, with special signature rules for mental health records.
Different departments handle different record types: Health Information Management (HIM) manages general records, while radiology and mental health have separate request processes.
CHOP doesn't promise immediate production, and turnaround varies by request. HIPAA's 30-day deadline applies to qualifying patient right-of-access requests, not to every attorney authorization request.
Pennsylvania's 2026 fee schedule caps search and retrieval at $29.61, though that fee can't be charged when patients request their own records.
Incomplete authorizations are a leading preventable cause of rejected requests and can lead to correction requests and delays.
Codes Health validates authorizations before submission, manages multi-channel provider outreach, and verifies record completeness before delivery.
Understanding Your Rights: How to Request Medical Records from CHOP
Patient Portals: Your First Step to Online Access
CHOP offers a patient portal called MyCHOP that provides access to portions of the electronic medical record. Through the portal, patients and guardians can view test results, immunization records, visit summaries, and some clinical notes. CHOP states that MyCHOP doesn't contain the complete medical record, which attorneys typically need for litigation.
Patients can also submit a medical record request through the MyCHOP questionnaire section. For legal professionals seeking comprehensive documentation, a formal authorization-based request is still the standard route.
HIPAA Requirements for Personal Record Requests
HIPAA generally requires action within 30 calendar days on a qualifying patient right-of-access request, with one permitted 30-day extension with written notice. That deadline doesn't automatically apply to disclosures made under a HIPAA authorization, such as most attorney-initiated requests. HHS notes that an authorization has no HIPAA timeliness requirement, unlike a right-of-access request.
CHOP doesn't publish a standard processing time for authorization-based requests and notes that records aren't immediately available because of request volume and compliance requirements, so turnaround varies by request.
For pediatric records, additional rules apply. Parents or legal guardians generally sign authorizations for patients under 18, and guardianship documentation should accompany the form if the signer isn't a parent. For mental health records, CHOP requires patients 14 or older to sign and initial the authorization themselves. Each of these requirements is another point where errors can delay a request.
Essential Forms for CHOP Medical Records: Release of Information and Authorization
Downloading CHOP-Specific Authorization Forms
CHOP uses a specific HIPAA authorization form for standard authorization-based record requests. The main forms include:
English Version: Authorization to Release/Obtain Patient Information (MR-109)
Spanish Version: HIPAA Authorization Form in Spanish
Reproductive Health Attestation: CHOP's website currently provides an attestation for certain requests. Because a federal court vacated most of the federal reproductive health rule supporting that requirement in June 2025, confirm CHOP's current operational requirements before submitting one.
Some outpatient, specialty care, and primary care requests are routed directly to the department where care took place.
Completing the HIPAA Release for Third-Party Access
The authorization form asks for information across several sections:
Patient Information (Section 1):
Patient's full legal name
Complete residential address
Telephone number
Date of birth
Records Requested (Section 3):
Date range of treatment (beginning and ending dates)
Service type checkboxes: Emergency Department, Home Care, Outpatient, Inpatient, Immunization, or Other
Special category initials for substance use, HIV, or mental health records
Delivery and Recipient Details:
Preferred format (Paper, CD, MyCHOP portal, Fax)
Law firm name and complete mailing address
Purpose of request (state "Legal representation" or a specific legal purpose)
Expiration date (default 90 days, extendable to a specified date up to one year)
Critical for Legal Professionals: If you need the full medical record for litigation, specify "Entire Record" on the authorization. CHOP releases an abstract by default in specified circumstances, which includes emergency records, discharge summaries, and operative reports but excludes items such as progress notes, flowsheets, and orders.
Incomplete authorizations are a leading preventable cause of denied requests. Missing patient signatures, unclear expiration dates, or uninitialed sensitive categories can result in rejection or a request for correction, delaying the record request. Codes Health's AI review catches these errors before submission, automatically flagging misspellings, missing dates of service, and signature issues that would otherwise cause provider rejections.
Contacting Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for Medical Records
Direct Phone Lines for CHOP's HIM Department
CHOP maintains separate departments for different record types, each with its own contact information:
Health Information Management (Inpatient and General Outpatient):
Email: HIMROI@chop.edu
Phone: 215-590-3640
Fax: 267-426-8654 or 215-590-4193
Address: Health Information Management Department, CHOP, The Buerger Ambulatory Care Center, 3500 Civic Center Blvd, Room P-1180, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging:
Email: RRA@email.chop.edu
Phone: 215-590-1000 (main hospital, ask for Radiology File Room)
Fax: 215-590-4783
Address: Radiology Department, Radiology File Room, 3401 Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Mental Health Records:
Email: CEDROI@chop.edu
Phone: 267-426-1323
Fax: 267-426-8654
Preferred Communication Methods for Record Requests
CHOP accepts requests by email and provides department-specific email addresses for record requests. When submitting by email, use a clear subject line like "Medical Record Request, [Patient Name]" and include your firm's contact information in the message.
For law firms handling multiple CHOP cases, managing these separate department contacts and tracking follow-ups for each gets burdensome fast. Codes Health manages provider outreach through calls, faxes, emails, and portals, with persistent follow-up until records arrive and visibility into completed outreach and next required actions.
Retrieving Old Medical Records from Childhood at CHOP
Specific Procedures for Childhood Records
Historical pediatric records come with their own challenges. For patients treated years ago, records may be archived and need extra processing time.
When the patient is now an adult requesting their own childhood records, they can sign the authorization themselves. For attorneys requesting records on behalf of adult clients about childhood treatment, the client signs the authorization and specifies the historical date ranges.
Understanding CHOP's Record Retention Policies
Under 28 Pa. Code § 115.23, Pennsylvania hospitals must generally keep medical records for at least 7 years after discharge. For minors, records must be kept until the patient reaches majority and then for 7 more years, or as long as adult records are maintained.
For treatment from many years ago, make the date range as specific as possible. Broad requests spanning many years can produce voluminous records and higher fees, or need extra time while staff locate archived materials.
Codes Health helps identify facilities where records may exist, which is especially valuable for cases with multiple treatment periods or incomplete client recollection of past care locations.
Streamlining Medical Record Requests for Legal Case Management
How Codes Health Supports Legal Case Management
Requesting CHOP records traditionally means completing forms, submitting to the right department, tracking status, following up on delays, paying fees, reviewing for completeness, and organizing what arrives. For firms with multiple cases, that burden adds up quickly.
Codes Health provides a comprehensive medical record retrieval service that handles every part of requesting and obtaining records from providers like CHOP. The platform combines AI processing with human verification for accuracy and completeness. Key capabilities include:
AI-powered authorization validation that catches errors before submission
Multi-channel provider outreach through calls, faxes, emails, and portals
Persistent follow-up that continues until records arrive
Completeness verification comparing returned materials against the original request
Organized delivery with records ready for attorney review
Online Access to CHOP Medical Records: Is it Possible?
Registering for the MyCHOP Patient Portal
MyCHOP provides online access to portions of the electronic health record. To register, contact the child's doctor's office to request a MyCHOP access code, then complete online registration.
Through MyCHOP, users can:
View test results and laboratory findings
Access immunization records
Review visit and admission summaries
Download appointment information
View medication lists
Access some clinical notes
Limitations of Online Record Access
For legal purposes, MyCHOP has significant limitations:
Portal access provides only portions of the electronic medical record
Not all clinical documentation is available through the portal
File size restrictions prevent delivery of large record sets
Records must be viewed on a computer (not fully compatible with mobile devices)
Only electronically documented records can be accessed
Attorneys seeking complete records for litigation, including progress notes, nursing documentation, and full imaging studies, still need formal authorization requests to the appropriate departments.
Ensuring Completeness: What to Expect After Requesting CHOP Records
Verifying Your Received Records
After you submit a request, CHOP reviews the authorization and applies any fees that apply to the request type. When records arrive, verify that they include every requested component:
Emergency Department records (if applicable)
Inpatient admission and discharge summaries
Operative and procedure reports
Outpatient clinic notes
Laboratory results
Radiology reports and images (if requested from the Radiology Department)
Mental health records (if requested from CEDROI with proper signatures)
How Codes Health Ensures Comprehensive Retrieval
Receiving an incomplete record set is a common frustration. You might get the abstract when you needed the full record, or find that radiology images weren't included because they need a separate department request.
Codes Health checks delivered records against the original request before closing the retrieval. When records look incomplete, the service works with the facility to resolve the gaps before returning the completed set, so you know the record set is actually complete.
The platform also identifies treatment gaps that may point to missing documentation, so legal teams can request specific additional records rather than repeating broad retrieval requests.
Optimizing Your CHOP Medical Record Retrieval with Codes Health's AI Insights
Turning Raw Data into Actionable Intelligence
Beyond retrieval, Codes Health's AI-powered platform organizes and summarizes case records chronologically. Patient encounters and bills can be grouped by visit, so attorneys can review large record sets without manually sorting hundreds or thousands of pages.
Codes Health's Insights Extraction Engine is purpose-built to identify structured information in unstructured medical records, including:
Diagnoses and treatment patterns
Medical history and pre-existing conditions
Provider information and treatment dates
Documented future medical expenses
Missed appointments and care gaps
Identifying Key Information for Litigation
For personal injury cases involving minor patients, the extracted insights help attorneys quickly spot facts relevant to case evaluation, demand preparation, and litigation strategy. Legal teams can focus on case-relevant information while keeping access to source documents for verification.
The platform tailors its analysis to specific practice areas and case contexts rather than generating generic medical summaries, surfacing what matters most for personal injury, medical malpractice, and related case types.
Why PI Firms Use Codes Health for CHOP Retrieval
CHOP splits records across HIM, Radiology, and Mental Health, each with its own contacts, signature rules, and request process, and pediatric cases often involve outside providers too. Codes Health pulls all of it into one workflow:
AI validation before submission that catches signature, date, and sensitive-category errors before CHOP or any other provider sees them
Multi-channel follow-up across calls, faxes, emails, and portals until records arrive
Completeness verification against the original request, including the abstract versus entire record distinction
Flat fee pricing with chronologies and analysis included
Filevine integration following the July 13, 2026 Filevine partnership, so you can submit requests, track status, and receive records and billing inside your Filevine project
Custom integrations with CRM platforms and other medical software for high-volume firms
Be careful with vendors promising same-day turnaround. Codes Health notes that competitors offering same-day retrieval often return only the records immediately available, leaving clients involved in tracking down the rest, which in its experience leads to client churn. Codes Health focuses on complete records in weeks, not months.
On general AI tools: General AI platforms like ChatGPT are not designed for litigation-grade medical record review. Codes Health's platform is purpose-built to analyze medical records with high precision, pairing AI extraction with human verification.
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 CHOP retrieval delays come from preventable failure points: requesting the default abstract instead of the entire record, sending mental health requests without the patient's own signature at 14 or older, letting a 90-day authorization lapse, and forgetting that radiology images need their own request. Getting the paperwork right and checking completeness on arrival solves most of them. Codes Health handles the entire process, from authorization validation to completeness verification, with an average turnaround of a couple of weeks for complete records.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I request my child's medical records from CHOP if they are over 18?
Once a patient turns 18, they have the legal right to authorize release of their own medical records. As a parent, you'd need your adult child to sign the HIPAA authorization form, or have a power of attorney or healthcare proxy authorizing you to act for them. CHOP can't release an adult patient's records to parents without proper documentation of authority.
What do I do if I find an error in my child's medical records from CHOP?
You have the right under HIPAA to request amendments. Submit a written request to CHOP's Health Information Management department explaining the specific error, with any supporting documentation. CHOP generally has 60 days to act, with a possible 30-day extension, and may accept or deny the request. If it's denied, you can submit a statement of disagreement to be included with the record.
Can CHOP medical records be sent directly to my attorney or another healthcare provider?
Yes. The HIPAA authorization form includes a recipient section where you specify where records should go. Fill in the law firm or healthcare provider's name, address, and fax number, and CHOP will send records directly to the designated recipient. For legal requests, state the purpose as "Legal representation" or your specific legal purpose.
Are there any fees associated with requesting medical records from CHOP?
Yes. Pennsylvania's 2026 schedule permits providers to charge up to $29.61 for search and retrieval, plus per-page copying fees of up to $2.00 per page for pages 1 to 20, $1.48 per page for pages 21 to 60, and $0.52 per page for pages 61 and beyond, with actual postage and shipping charged separately. The search and retrieval fee can't be charged when patients request their own records. When an individual is exercising the federal right of access, HIPAA's separate cost-based fee limits may control instead of the state maximums.
What happens if my authorization expires before CHOP processes the request?
CHOP's MR-109 form expires 90 days after signing by default, but you can set a different expiration date up to one year from the signature date. Choosing a longer expiration on the initial form helps avoid problems if processing runs long. If you're unsure whether an expired authorization affects a pending request, confirm with CHOP's HIM department.
