List of Forms and Contact Details Required to Request Medical Records From Massachusetts General Hospital in 2026
Requesting medical records from Massachusetts General Hospital means working through a centralized Release of Information unit that handles requests for multiple Mass General Brigham facilities. For personal injury attorneys, knowing the exact forms, contacts, and submission rules is the difference between records landing before a settlement deadline and a rejected authorization sending you back to the client for another signature. Codes Health offers AI-powered retrieval that validates authorizations before submission and works toward complete records in a couple of weeks rather than months, heading off the errors that stall MGH requests.
Key Takeaways
MGH routes record requests through one Somerville Release of Information office that serves multiple Mass General Brigham facilities, so a single properly executed system-wide authorization can cover several treatment locations
Under HIPAA, a covered entity generally must act on a qualifying individual access request within 30 days, with one permitted extension of up to 30 additional days after written notice
Massachusetts sets statutory maximum copying charges that may be adjusted using the medical-care Consumer Price Index, so confirm the current applicable amount before quoting a figure
Incomplete authorizations are a leading cause of denied requests, and pre-submission validation can prevent the corrected resubmissions that add time to a case
Radiology images follow a separate imaging workflow and are not covered by a standard medical record authorization
Codes Health's AI review catches authorization errors before submission and works toward complete records in a couple of weeks
How to Request MGH Medical Records Online
Accessing Your Patient Gateway Account
Massachusetts General Hospital uses the Patient Gateway portal across the Mass General Brigham network for patient-initiated access. Patients can view, download, transmit, and print available health information and can use the portal's Request Records function for additional material. Not every component of a complete designated record set is necessarily downloadable on demand.
Attorneys should not plan around portal access. Legal professionals submit formal authorization requests through the centralized Release of Information office.
What Portal Copies Do and Do Not Give You
Patient Gateway runs on the Epic electronic health record used across the network. Records a client downloads themselves may not carry the sworn certification needed for the streamlined evidentiary procedure under M.G.L. c. 233 §79G. That statute is one route to admitting qualifying medical bills and reports, not the only way any medical record can ever come in, so decide what your case actually needs rather than assuming portal copies are unusable.
For firms handling volume, Codes Health gathers records through multiple channels including health information exchange integrations, TEFCA network access, electronic health record connections, provider portals, and traditional retrieval. That range matters because it does not depend on which systems a given hospital runs internally.
The MGH Release Form and Authorization Requirements
Downloading the Official Form
The MGH authorization form is available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. It requires:
Patient's full legal name and date of birth
Current address and contact information
Medical record number if known
Specific dates of service or date ranges
Types of records requested, including clinic notes, discharge summaries, lab reports, operative reports, pathology reports, radiology reports, and billing records
Recipient information including law firm name, address, and fax number
Patient signature with date
On expiration, the MGB authorization automatically expires six months after signature unless another expiration is specified. A separately entered date is not necessarily required, which is worth knowing before you send a form back to a client over a blank field.
For clients treated at more than one facility, use the system-wide Mass General Brigham authorization rather than the MGH-only form, and identify the facilities properly. An MGH-specific request does not automatically search every network facility.
Sensitive Record Categories
Specially protected categories on the form include:
HIV test results and related treatment information
Substance use disorder treatment records protected by 42 CFR Part 2
Mental health and psychiatric records
Genetic testing information
Part 2 protects records meeting its scope requirements rather than every mention of substance use anywhere in a chart, and the MGB authorization contains a specific consent section for Part 2-protected treatment records. If permission is not given for a category, that information may be withheld while the rest of the request proceeds, which can require a corrected or additional authorization later if you end up needing those records.
Codes Health uses AI-assisted validation to review authorizations before submission, flagging misspellings, missing dates of service, signature issues, and incomplete sensitive-record sections that would otherwise cause delays or partial deliveries.
Retrieving Older MGH Records
Retention and Storage
Massachusetts law provides that hospital records may generally be destroyed 20 years after discharge or final treatment, subject to the statute and applicable regulations. Older material may take longer to pull if it is not readily accessible.
Requesting Records From Past Decades
On long treatment histories, be prepared for possibilities rather than certainties: records drawn from more than one source, gaps where older material was destroyed under retention rules, mixed formats, and higher page counts that raise copying costs.
Specify exact date ranges rather than asking for "complete records." That keeps page counts and fees down while making sure you get the treatment periods your case actually turns on.
Codes Health uses provider and facility data to identify where records exist, which matters most on cases with multiple treating facilities or a client whose recollection of their care history is incomplete.
MGH Medical Records Contact Details
Release of Information Unit
The centralized Mass General Brigham Release of Information Unit handles MGH record requests.
Phone: 617-726-2361
Fax: 617-726-3661
Mailing address: Mass General Brigham Release of Information Unit, 121 Inner Belt Road, Room 240, Somerville, MA 02143-4453. The current MGB webpage shortens this to "121 Inner Belt, Room 240"
Walk-in service: routine patient walk-in service is unavailable and offices have been closed to patient walk-ins since March 19, 2020. Call ROI about possible in-person options
Imaging and Billing Contacts
Imaging runs on its own workflow. Radiology images, whether films, CDs, or digital studies, are not automatically included in a standard medical record authorization.
MGH Image Service Center
Phone: 617-726-1798
Fax: 617-724-0264
Address: 55 Fruit Street, Blake Building, Blake Subbasement 0029, Boston, MA 02114
Email: ImageServiceCenter@mgb.org
Online: film order form
Hospital bills: the Medical Records department does not provide copies of hospital bills. MGB directs those requests to Billing Customer Service at 617-726-3884. Note the distinction from the "Billing Records" checkbox on the authorization form, which covers billing-related records in the chart.
Submitting by Mail or Fax
Do not email the authorization. MGB explicitly instructs requesters not to email the form because it cannot guarantee the security of the personal information on it. Keep fax confirmation receipts as proof of submission, and consider certified mail with return receipt for postal submissions.
Codes Health manages provider outreach across calls, faxes, emails, and portals, with visibility into what outreach has already happened and what comes next, so nobody at the firm is chasing confirmations.
HIPAA and Massachusetts Requirements
Timelines
Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, a covered entity generally must act on a qualifying individual right-of-access request within 30 days of receipt. It may take one extension of no more than 30 additional days if it gives the requester timely written notice explaining the delay and the expected completion date. There is no automatic longer period simply because records sit off-site.
Massachusetts law separately imposes a 30-day production requirement for records requested to support a claim or appeal under the Social Security Act or another federal or state financial needs-based benefit program. That is a narrower rule than a general deadline for every request.
An authorization defect can delay processing and may require a corrected resubmission, but no blanket rule provides that every deficient authorization legally restarts a statutory clock.
Fees
HIPAA limits fees for qualifying individual access requests to reasonable, cost-based charges covering allowable copying labor, supplies, and postage. For electronic copies of PHI maintained electronically, a covered entity may use a $6.50 flat-fee option instead of calculating actual allowable costs. That $6.50 is an optional calculation method, not a mandatory price or a universal cap, and an attorney-initiated authorization request should not automatically be treated as identical to an individual's right-of-access request.
Massachusetts sets statutory base limits for copying charges and permits annual adjustment using the medical-care Consumer Price Index, so any published schedule with an older effective date should be verified before you quote a client a number. MGB itself states only that fees may apply and are based on state and federal guidelines. Records properly requested to support Social Security Act claims or qualifying needs-based benefit claims are provided free, subject to documentation requirements.
Third-Party Authorization
When attorneys request records for a client, the signed authorization is what permits disclosure to the named recipient. It needs a specific description of the information to be disclosed, clear identification of the recipient, the purpose, and the patient's signature and date.
Codes Health operates a HIPAA-compliant platform for handling protected health information.
Requesting Records for Legal and Insurance Purposes
Submitting as a Legal Professional
Attorneys requesting records for litigation should use the standard authorization form rather than a subpoena for routine requests, state the legal purpose of disclosure, and include complete firm information as the authorized recipient.
If you intend to rely on M.G.L. c. 233 §79G, obtain records or reports satisfying the statute's sworn-record requirements, which describe qualifying reports and hospital records as subscribed and sworn to under the penalties of perjury, and send notice of intent with a copy by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least 10 days before the evidence is introduced.
For personal injury, medical malpractice, and wrongful death matters, request billing records alongside clinical records. Billing documentation often surfaces treatment dates, procedure codes, and provider names that never appear in the clinical notes.
Requests for Family Members
A legally authorized representative may request records when they provide documentation establishing the necessary authority. For deceased patients, MGB requires authorization from the Executor, Executrix, Administrator of the Estate, or Personal Representative, together with documentation showing legal authority. Whether a particular power of attorney reaches protected health information depends on its terms and applicable law, so a general POA should not be assumed sufficient.
Verifying Completeness After Records Arrive
How to Check for Gaps
When records arrive, verify that all requested date ranges are covered, all specified record types are present, pages are legible, patient identification matches throughout, authorized sensitive records are included, and billing documentation lines up with clinical treatment dates.
Follow-Up on Incomplete Deliveries
Document the specific gaps, contact the ROI office referencing your original request, and submit a written follow-up identifying exactly what is missing. If the original authorization is still within its validity period, reference it. Cross-referencing billing statements against clinical records often surfaces treatment dates with documentation that was not in the initial release.
Codes Health reviews retrieved batches for completeness against the original request and flags missing-record gaps for follow-up before closing out a retrieval.
Why PI Firms Use Codes Health for Massachusetts General Hospital Retrieval
MGH fragmentation is easy to underestimate: one ROI unit in Somerville, a separate imaging service center with its own address and order form, hospital bills routed to a different department entirely, a system-wide form that is not the same as the MGH-only form, and no email pathway for authorizations. Codes Health consolidates that into a single request workflow so the firm is not tracking which MGB desk owns which piece.
AI validation of authorizations, dates, and provider-specific requirements before submission
Multi-channel follow-up across calls, faxes, emails, and portals until records arrive
Completeness review against the original request, with gaps flagged for follow-up
Flat fee pricing
Filevine integration, announced in July 2026, letting firms submit requests, track status, and receive completed records and billing inside the case project
Custom integrations with CRM platforms and other medical software for high-volume firms
General AI platforms like ChatGPT can summarize a document, but they do not manage authorizations, provider outreach, or completeness checks, and they are not designed for litigation-grade medical record review. Codes Health's platform is purpose-built for that work, with AI-generated insights verified by human medical and legal reviewers.
Codes Health's MIT-educated engineering team continuously builds out additional workflows and products, so the platform keeps evolving and becoming more comprehensive to meet the changing demands of modern legal practices.
The Bottom Line
MGH requests are manageable once you have the routing straight. Use the system-wide Mass General Brigham authorization when your client was treated at more than one facility, sign and date it, complete the sensitive-record consents that actually apply, and remember the form expires six months after signature unless you specify otherwise. Send imaging through the Image Service Center and hospital bills to Billing Customer Service. Fax or mail the authorization, never email it. Confirm the current Massachusetts copying fee rather than working from a stale schedule.
One note on vendor speed claims. Codes Health's position is that services promising same-day retrieval typically return only the records that happen to be immediately available electronically, leaving the firm or the client to chase the rest, and it says that added client involvement is a driver of churn. Codes Health works toward the complete record set in a couple of weeks rather than months, with flat fee pricing, validation before submission, and completeness review before delivery.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get MGH medical records immediately?
Patients can view and download available health information through Patient Gateway and use its Request Records function for more. Not every part of a complete record set is downloadable on demand, and copies a client pulls themselves may lack the sworn certification needed for the streamlined procedure under M.G.L. c. 233 §79G. Attorneys submit formal authorization requests through the Release of Information unit.
Can I request a family member's records from MGH?
Only with proper legal authority. That means a valid authorization signed by the patient, or documentation establishing a representative's authority. For deceased patients, MGB requires authorization from the Executor, Executrix, Administrator of the Estate, or Personal Representative with documentation of legal authority. For minors, a parent, guardian, or other legal representative signs with documentation where needed.
What if I need records from multiple Mass General Brigham facilities?
Use the system-wide Mass General Brigham authorization form rather than the MGH-only form, and identify the facilities on it. That form is specifically intended for patients seeking their entire record across multiple MGB facilities. Some hospitals and practices in the system have separate record-request instructions, so check the current MGB records page for your facilities.
Does MGH provide records in digital format?
Yes. Specify electronic delivery on the authorization. For qualifying individual access requests involving electronic PHI maintained electronically, a covered entity may apply a $6.50 flat-fee option rather than calculating allowable costs, though that is one permitted method rather than a fixed price for every request. Electronic delivery also skips the postal lag.
What happens if MGH rejects my request?
Common reasons include a missing or illegible signature, no date on the signature line, incomplete recipient information, and incomplete sensitive-record consents. Review the authorization against MGB's requirements, correct the deficiency, and resubmit. A defect can cause real delay even though no rule provides that it legally restarts a statutory clock. Codes Health's AI validation catches these errors before submission.
