The federal government issued proposed regulations that would make all lab results subject to the
basic rule that all patient records should be provided to the patient upon request. See the post on
e-patients.net explaining the proposed rule on access to lab results and its background. Following
discussion in the comments to the blog post and on the listserv, David Harlow filed comments on behalf
of the Society supporting the rule change, and opposing any delay in access by patients. Thank you to
everyone who participated in those discussions. See the S4PM comment letter. While the amendments
required in order to make these changes are small, surgical edits, final action and implementation of this
rule could take up to a year or more.

Update:

Link to actual PDF of submitted letter

SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY VIA REGULATIONS.GOV

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Department of Health and Human Services

Room 445-G

Hubert H. Humphrey Building

200 Independence Avenue, SW.

Washington, DC 20201

Attn: CMS-2319-P

Re:            Medicare, Medicaid, and CLIA Programs; Patient Access to Laboratory Test Reports (CMS-2319-P)