List of Forms and Contact Details Required to Request Medical Records From HCA Healthcare
As of June 30, 2026, HCA Healthcare operated 190 hospitals and approximately 2,600 ambulatory sites of care in 19 states and the United Kingdom. For personal injury and other law firms, that scale makes understanding HCA's facility-specific medical record request process important.
This guide covers verified authorization requirements, mailing addresses, contact numbers, state-specific considerations, and submission procedures for several major HCA markets. Because HCA routes attorney requests differently by market, always verify the medical records page for the specific facility before sending a request.
Codes Health can manage this process through one legal-focused retrieval platform, with authorization review, status tracking, completeness review, organized records, and average retrieval measured in a couple of weeks rather than months.
Key Takeaways
HCA uses Shared Service Centers for many attorney and third-party requests, but there is no single nationwide SSC address for every HCA facility.
HCA Houston routes attorney requests to Houston SSC, while Medical City uses Dallas SSC.
HCA Florida directs attorney and other non-patient requests to Tampa SSC and states that fax and email are not accepted for these requests.
HCA HealthONE in Colorado routes non-patient requests to Richmond SSC.
HCA's 1 to 2-day email-delivery statement applies after processing. It is not a guaranteed total fulfillment time.
Codes Health reviews authorizations for preventable errors before submission and typically retrieves records in a couple of weeks.
Accessing HCA Medical Records Online
Using MyHealthONE
HCA's MyHealthONE portal allows patients to view many health records, lab results, imaging reports, and other available information online. HCA states that the portal provides access to most medical records, although certain records may still need to be obtained through the hospital's Medical Records office.
For attorneys, portal records may provide useful preliminary documentation when a client already has access. They should not automatically be treated as a substitute for a formal request when the case requires a complete record set, billing records, radiology images, certifications, or other materials that may not appear in the portal.
HCA also supports proxy access under defined circumstances. Its proxy guidance explains requirements for adult patients, minors, and individuals acting under appropriate legal authority.
Requesting Medical Records From HCA Facilities
Separate Patient and Attorney Workflows
One of the most important distinctions is between a patient's own request and an attorney's or another third party's request.
On the HCA facility pages reviewed, patient requests may be submitted through an online request portal and may also have fax, email, and mail options. HCA generally requires the authorization to be signed and dated and asks for a legible copy of a valid photo ID for the patient-request process.
Attorney, insurance, disability, and other third-party requests have separate instructions. The HCA Houston, Medical City, HCA Florida, and HealthONE pages reviewed direct those requests to the applicable SSC mailing address.
Recommended Attorney Workflow
Identify the exact HCA facility where treatment occurred.
Open that facility's current medical records page.
Complete an authorization that satisfies HIPAA and applicable state requirements.
Verify the patient's identifying information, requested record types, and dates of service.
Follow the facility's current instructions for attorney or third-party requests.
Keep proof of mailing and copies of the authorization and request.
Use HCA's published medical records number for questions or status follow-up.
Review delivered records against the original request before treating the request as complete.
Incomplete authorizations are a major preventable source of denials and delays. Missing patient signatures, unclear expiration dates, unchecked boxes for sensitive records, missing dates of service, and misspellings can force a request back into the submission cycle.
Codes Health's authorization review is designed to catch misspellings, missing dates of service, signature problems, and similar issues before submission.
HCA Turnaround Information
HCA's public pages should not be read as promising a fixed end-to-end turnaround.
For the facilities reviewed, HCA says:
Records delivered by email are received within 1 to 2 business days after processing.
Records delivered by mail are shipped within 5 to 7 business days after processing.
The pages do not provide a universal processing period that can simply be added to those delivery estimates.
Under HIPAA access rules, an individual's qualifying right-of-access request generally requires a covered entity to act within 30 days. That rule also applies when an individual makes a qualifying written direction to have the information sent to a designated third party. Attorney-initiated authorization requests should not automatically be treated as identical to individual right-of-access requests.
Texas also has a 15-business-day requirement for certain physician medical record requests under Texas law. That physician statute should not be described as a universal deadline for every HCA hospital request.
Codes Health does not promise same-day retrieval. Its medical record retrieval service generally operates on a timeline of a couple of weeks, with automated follow-up and status tracking designed to reduce unnecessary delays.
HCA Authorization Forms
What a HIPAA Authorization Needs
A valid HIPAA authorization generally must identify the information to be disclosed, who may disclose it, who may receive it, an expiration date or event, and the appropriate signature and date, along with other required Privacy Rule statements.
Avoid presenting a fixed 90-day or 180-day expiration period as a HIPAA requirement. The authorization must contain an expiration date or a qualifying expiration event, but federal law does not impose a universal 90-to-180-day rule.
HCA's current patient-request instructions also state that the authorization must be signed and dated and that a legible, valid photo ID is required to verify identification and validate the authorization.
For legal requests, use the current authorization form and instructions published by the specific HCA market or facility.
Avoid Common Authorization Problems
Before mailing an attorney request, confirm:
The patient's name and identifying information are accurate.
The authorization is signed and dated.
Dates of service are accurate where requested.
The correct HCA facility is identified.
The requested record categories are clear.
Any legally required sensitive-record provisions are completed.
The authorization has not expired.
The request is being sent to the correct SSC.
Do not automatically include a Social Security number unless the applicable form or provider specifically requires it.
Codes Health's AI retrieval platform reviews request information before submission and flags issues that could lead to provider rejection. This helps law firms reduce avoidable rework and keep requests moving.
Verified HCA Medical Records Contacts
HCA Houston Healthcare
For HCA Houston facilities, the current published medical records information includes:
Phone: (844) 481-0278
Patient fax: (844) 481-0298
Urgent physician fax: (786) 206-0841
Attorney address:
Houston SSC
PO Box 292289
Nashville, TN 37229-2289
HCA Houston's public instructions direct insurance, attorney, disability, and third-party requests to this mailing address.
Medical City Healthcare, Texas
Medical City uses a different SSC from HCA Houston.
Phone: (844) 481-0278
Patient fax: (844) 481-0298
Urgent physician fax: (786) 206-0841
Attorney address:
Dallas SSC
PO Box 290489
Nashville, TN 37229-0489
This address applies to Medical City's published non-patient request workflow. Attorneys should not send Medical City requests to Houston SSC merely because both systems are part of HCA Healthcare.
HCA Florida Healthcare
HCA Florida currently publishes:
Phone: (844) 481-0278
Patient fax: (844) 481-0298
Urgent physician fax: (786) 206-0830
Attorney address:
Tampa SSC
PO Box 292409
Nashville, TN 37239-2409
HCA Florida states that non-patient requests from insurance companies, attorneys, Disability Determination Services, and other third parties should be mailed to Tampa SSC and that fax and email requests are not accepted for this category.
HCA HealthONE, Colorado
For HCA HealthONE facilities, the current published information includes:
Phone: (844) 481-0278
Patient fax: (844) 481-0298
Urgent physician fax: (786) 206-0841
Attorney address:
Richmond SSC
PO Box 291569
Nashville, TN 37229-1569
HealthONE directs attorney and other non-patient requests to Richmond SSC.
Radiology Images
HCA's medical records pages direct patients seeking radiology images to contact the Radiology Department directly. Attorneys requesting actual image files should therefore verify the facility's radiology process instead of assuming that a standard medical record request automatically includes the underlying images.
HIPAA Considerations for Law Firms
Attorney medical record requests can involve several different legal pathways, so avoid treating every request as if the same HIPAA provision controls it.
A patient's HIPAA access right differs from a third party making its own request under a patient's authorization. That distinction can affect deadlines and permissible fees.
HHS explains that HIPAA access fee limitations apply to qualifying individual access requests, including qualifying requests directing records to a third party. A third party independently requesting records under an authorization may be treated differently.
The minimum necessary standard also does not apply to a disclosure made pursuant to an individual's authorization. Law firms may still choose to tailor requests to their case needs, but this should not be characterized as a HIPAA minimum-necessary requirement.
Whether a retrieval company is a business associate depends on the relationship, parties involved, and function being performed. Handling medical information does not automatically create the same HIPAA business associate relationship in every circumstance.
Streamlining HCA Requests With Codes Health
HCA's different facility markets, SSC addresses, authorization requirements, and delivery channels make manual retrieval difficult to scale across a busy personal injury or medical litigation practice.
Codes Health provides a medical retrieval platform built specifically for law firms. The platform can review authorization packets before submission, track retrieval activity, organize returned records chronologically, identify missing records, and surface medical information relevant to litigation.
Codes Health typically retrieves medical records in a couple of weeks. Its approach combines AI-powered workflow automation with human verification, giving legal teams a purpose-built system rather than forcing them to manage calls, faxes, portals, and follow-ups manually.
General-purpose AI tools such as ChatGPT are not substitutes for a purpose-built litigation medical record platform. General AI systems are not designed to analyze complex medical records with the same workflow-specific precision as a platform created for medical retrieval and legal review. Codes Health's platform is designed specifically to analyze medical records with high precision in legal workflows.
Some retrieval vendors promote same-day access. In practice, extremely fast retrieval can result in partial records, incomplete provider coverage, or additional client involvement to locate missing documents. That can create frustration and vendor churn. Codes Health does not position itself as a same-day retrieval service. It focuses on retrieving complete records in a couple of weeks while maintaining ongoing provider follow-up.
Codes Health uses a flat fee model rather than publishing individual prices in this article. High-volume customers can also request custom integrations with CRM platforms, case management systems, and other medical software.
Codes Health's MIT-educated engineering team continues to build additional workflows and products, helping the platform become more comprehensive as legal medical record workflows evolve.
Filevine Integration
Codes Health and Filevine announced a strategic partnership in July 2026. The integration allows Filevine users to initiate and manage medical record retrieval from within their existing case management workflow.
Legal teams can use the integration to:
Submit record requests from the relevant case.
Track request status without switching platforms.
Communicate with the Codes Health team.
Receive completed medical and billing records inside the case file.
For firms using other systems, Codes Health can develop custom integrations for qualifying high-volume workflows.
Finding Older HCA Records
HCA's network has changed over time, so an older treatment location may have operated under another hospital or system name.
When a response indicates that no records were found:
Verify the exact treatment location and dates using bills, EOBs, and case documents.
Confirm whether the facility changed names or ownership.
Ask the applicable records department which entity is the current custodian.
Verify the appropriate SSC instead of assuming another HCA hospital possesses the historical record.
Do not rely on a general six-year HIPAA medical record retention rule. HHS guidance states that the HIPAA Privacy Rule does not establish a general medical record retention period. State laws and other applicable requirements typically determine how long records must be maintained.
Verifying the Records You Receive
A retrieval is not complete merely because a PDF arrives.
Compare returned materials with the original request and check for:
Missing dates of service
Missing treatment notes
Missing billing records
Missing laboratory results
Missing imaging reports
Missing radiology images
Illegible or truncated pages
Wrong-patient records
Unexplained treatment gaps
If actual radiology images are needed, remember that HCA's public pages instruct requesters to contact the relevant Radiology Department.
Codes Health's record review can compare retrieved materials with available patient history and identify gaps before the record set is treated as complete.
HCA Healthcare Record Fees
Texas Hospital Records
Under the current Texas fee schedule, hospital paper copy maximums effective September 1, 2025 include:
First 10 pages: up to $61.79
Pages 11 through 60: up to $2.09 per page
Pages 61 through 400: up to $1.02 per page
Remaining pages: up to $0.56 per page
Electronic records: retrieval or processing fees may apply under the state schedule
A 200-page paper record under that state maximum calculates to $309.09 before any separately permitted costs. These are statutory maximums, not a statement that HCA will charge that amount in every case.
HIPAA's access fee rules may apply when the request qualifies as an individual's right-of-access request, including certain properly directed third-party requests.
Florida Hospital Records
For Florida licensed facilities, Florida law currently provides that paper patient record copies may generally be charged at no more than $1 per page, with permitted sales tax and actual postage. The statute addresses nonpaper records separately.
The previous $75 example for a 200-page HCA Florida hospital record should not be used because it relied on a fee framework that does not apply to these hospital requests.
As with Texas, federal HIPAA access fee rules may affect what can be charged when the request qualifies as an individual's right-of-access request.
Before selecting a delivery format, ask the facility or records vendor what fee applies. Do not assume electronic delivery will always be cheaper.
Stop Chasing HCA Records
HCA's size is only part of the challenge. For law firms, the practical difficulty is making sure each request reaches the right facility and SSC with a complete authorization, then following the request until a complete record set arrives.
Codes Health brings those steps into one legal retrieval platform. The platform reviews authorizations, manages provider follow-up, tracks request status, organizes returned records, and checks for missing materials, with typical retrieval in a couple of weeks instead of making an unrealistic same-day promise.
Request a demo to see how a flat-fee, AI-powered medical record retrieval and review workflow can reduce the record-chasing burden for personal injury and other litigation teams.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to get medical records from HCA Healthcare?
There is no single verified HCA-wide end-to-end turnaround for every request. HCA states on the facility pages reviewed that records delivered by email are received within 1 to 2 business days after processing and mailed records are shipped within 5 to 7 business days after processing, so those figures should not be presented as the complete processing timeline. Codes Health generally retrieves records in a couple of weeks while managing authorization review and provider follow-up.
Can an attorney fax a medical record request to HCA Florida?
No, not under the current published HCA Florida process for attorney and other non-patient requests. HCA Florida directs attorney, insurance, disability, and similar third-party requests to Tampa SSC, PO Box 292409, Nashville, TN 37239-2409, and states that fax and email are not accepted for this category.
Where should Medical City attorney requests be mailed?
Medical City directs attorney and other non-patient requests to Dallas SSC, PO Box 290489, Nashville, TN 37229-0489. This is different from the Houston SSC used by HCA Houston Healthcare, so firms should verify the HCA market before sending a request.
Can I request records for someone who has died?
Yes, when the requester has appropriate legal authority. Under HHS guidance, an executor, administrator, or another person legally authorized to act for the decedent or estate may qualify as the deceased individual's personal representative for relevant HIPAA purposes, but the exact documents required to establish that authority can depend on state law and the facility's process.
Does HIPAA require hospitals to keep records for six years?
No. HHS guidance states that the HIPAA Privacy Rule does not establish a general medical record retention period. The six-year HIPAA rule applies to certain compliance documentation, not to every patient's medical record, so state law and other applicable requirements generally control record retention.
