Mo. Rev. Stat. » Chapter 191
Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 191.227 (2026)

Medical records to be released to patient, when, exception

✓ laws through the 2026 session (checked Sept. 2026)
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MO-REVrevisor.mo.gov Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

  191.227.  Medical records to be released to patient, when, exception — fee permitted, amount — liability of provider limited — annual handling fee adjustment — disclosure of deceased patient records, when — emergency care records. — 1.  All physicians, chiropractors, hospitals, dentists, and other duly licensed practitioners in this state, herein called "providers", shall, upon written request of a patient, or guardian or legally authorized representative of a patient, furnish a copy of his or her record of that patient's health history and treatment rendered to the person submitting a written request, except that such right shall be limited to access consistent with the patient's condition and sound therapeutic treatment as determined by the provider.  Beginning August 28, 1994, such record shall be furnished within a reasonable time of the receipt of the request therefor and upon payment of a fee as provided in this section.

  2.  Health care providers may condition the furnishing of the patient's health care records to the patient, the patient's authorized representative or any other person or entity authorized by law to obtain or reproduce such records upon payment of a fee for:

  (1)  (a)  Search and retrieval, in an amount not more than twenty-four dollars and eighty-five cents plus copying in the amount of fifty-seven cents per page for the cost of supplies and labor plus, if the health care provider has contracted for off-site records storage and management, any additional labor costs of outside storage retrieval, not to exceed twenty-three dollars and twenty-six cents, as adjusted annually pursuant to subsection 6 of this section; or

  (b)  The records shall be furnished electronically upon payment of the search, retrieval, and copying fees set under this section at the time of the request or one hundred eight dollars and eighty-eight cents total, whichever is less, if such person:

  a.  Requests health records to be delivered electronically in a format of the health care provider's choice;

  b.  The health care provider stores such records completely in an electronic health record; and

  c.  The health care provider is capable of providing the requested records and affidavit, if requested, in an electronic format;

  (2)  Postage, to include packaging and delivery cost;

  (3)  Notary fee, not to exceed two dollars, if requested.

­­

­

Such fee shall be the fee in effect on February 1, 2018, increased or decreased annually under this section.

  3.  For purposes of subsections 1 and 2 of this section, "a copy of his or her record of that patient's health history and treatment rendered" or "the patient's health care records" includes a statement or record that no such health history or treatment record responsive to the request exists.

  4.  Notwithstanding provisions of this section to the contrary, providers may charge for the reasonable cost of all duplications of health care record material or information which cannot routinely be copied or duplicated on a standard commercial photocopy machine.

  5.  The transfer of the patient's record done in good faith shall not render the provider liable to the patient or any other person for any consequences which resulted or may result from disclosure of the patient's record as required by this section.

  6.  Effective February first of each year, the fees listed in subsection 2 of this section shall be increased or decreased annually based on the annual percentage change in the unadjusted, U.S. city average, annual average inflation rate of the medical care component of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).  The current reference base of the index, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, shall be used as the reference base.  For purposes of this subsection, the annual average inflation rate shall be based on a twelve-month calendar year beginning in January and ending in December of each preceding calendar year.  The department of health and senior services shall report the annual adjustment and the adjusted fees authorized in this section on the department's internet website by February first of each year.

  7.  A health care provider may disclose a deceased patient's health care records or payment records to the executor or administrator of the deceased person's estate, or pursuant to a valid, unrevoked power of attorney for health care that specifically directs that the deceased person's health care records be released to the agent after death.  If an executor, administrator, or agent has not been appointed, the deceased prior to death did not specifically object to disclosure of his or her records in writing, and such disclosure is not inconsistent with any prior expressed preference of the deceased that is known to the health care provider, a deceased patient's health care records may be released upon written request of a person who is deemed as the personal representative of the deceased person under this subsection.  Priority shall be given to the deceased patient's spouse and the records shall be released on the affidavit of the surviving spouse that he or she is the surviving spouse.  If there is no surviving spouse, the health care records may be released to one of the following persons:

  (1)  The acting trustee of a trust created by the deceased patient either alone or with the deceased patient's spouse;

  (2)  An adult child of the deceased patient on the affidavit of the adult child that he or she is the adult child of the deceased;

  (3)  A parent of the deceased patient on the affidavit of the parent that he or she is the parent of the deceased;

  (4)  An adult brother or sister of the deceased patient on the affidavit of the adult brother or sister that he or she is the adult brother or sister of the deceased;

  (5)  A guardian or conservator of the deceased patient at the time of the patient's death on the affidavit of the guardian or conservator that he or she is the guardian or conservator of the deceased; or

  (6)  A guardian ad litem of the deceased's minor child based on the affidavit of the guardian that he or she is the guardian ad litem of the minor child of the deceased.

  8.  (1)  Records containing a patient's health history and treatment created by an emergency care provider, as defined in section 191.630, or a telecommunicator first responder, as defined in section 650.320, in the course of the provider's or responder's official duties while responding to a formal request for assistance shall be made available, upon written request, to any person authorized to obtain the patient's health care records under the provisions of this section, or in response to a subpoena or court order.

  (2)  The furnishing of health care records under this subsection may be conditioned upon the payment of a fee in an amount equal to the fee allowed for the furnishing of any other health care record under this section.

  (3)  Personal health information, including patient health history and treatment, shall not be considered a public record, as described under chapter 610.  Nothing in this section shall limit the release of information or public records with personal health information that is redacted regarding the general nature of the event.

  (4)  Nothing in this subsection shall limit the release of information to facilitate the normal delivery of patient care or to evaluate the quality of care as part of an established quality improvement program.

­­--------

(L. 1988 H.B. 925 § 1, A.L. 1994 H.B. 1427, A.L. 2002 S.B. 923, et al., A.L. 2005 H.B. 232, A.L. 2011 S.B. 62, A.L. 2013 H.B. 351, A.L. 2017 S.B. 501, A.L. 2018 S.B. 718 merged with S.B. 826 merged with S.B. 951, A.L. 2025 S.B. 71)

CROSS REFERENCES:

Child's medical records to be released to parents, attorney's costs assessed, when, 452.375

Nonseverability clause, 190.840

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 14 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1990–2025 · leading case: Carter v. St. John's Reg'l Med. Ctr., 88 S.W.3d 1 (Mo. Ct. App. 2002).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Carter v. St. John's Reg'l Med. Ctr., 88 S.W.3d 1 (Mo. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 11× “Carter to testify regarding the need for a punitive damage judgment to get St. John’s attention; and unspecified, unidentified closing arguments, were “inflammatory and designed to incite the passion, bias and prejudice of the jury.”
Wear v. Walker, 800 S.W.2d 99 (Mo. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 16× “On October 24, 1988, defendants intentionally, maliciously and with reckless indifference to the rights of plaintiff, and in violation of § 191.227 RSMo, refused to furnish plaintiff a copy of her medical records.”
Brown v. Hamid, 856 S.W.2d 51 (Mo. 1993). · cites it 4× “” Invoking the logic of a Florida case, 3 Ellis alleges that § 191.227 RSMo Supp. 1992 and a case interpreting it 4 “pave the way for a cause of action where records are destroyed and a plaintiff’s lawsuit impaired.”
St. Anthony's Med. Ctr. v. H.S.H., 974 S.W.2d 606 (Mo. Ct. App. 1998). · cites it 5× “Anthony’s argues that Section 191.227 RSMo Supp.1990 protected the hospital from liability on all of defendant’s counterclaims.”
Brinson v. Whittico, 793 S.W.2d 632 (Mo. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 4× “We observe that § 191.227, RSMo Supp.1989, directs medical providers to furnish a copy of a patient’s records to any patient who submits a written request.”
Carter v. CIOX Health, LLC, 260 F. Supp. 3d 277 (W.D.N.Y. 2017). “Va Code § 16-29-1; Mo. Rev. Stat. § 191.227 ; Ohio Rev. Code Ann.”
Lockhart v. Hallazgo, 983 S.W.2d 577 (Mo. Ct. App. 1998). · cites it 10× “On appeal, Prisoner contends that the trial court erred in dismissing his claim because he “stated a viable claim under Section 191.227 RSMo., and Section 217.075 RSMo.”
Brandon Graham v. CIOX Health, LLC, 952 F.3d 972 (8th Cir. 2020). “Graham subsequently filed this proposed class action lawsuit alleging that CIOX’s practice of charging a “Basic Fee” for unsuccessful records searches violates Mo. Rev. Stat. § 191.227 (2017). Under that statute, health care providers “shall, upon written request of a patient,…”
Spearman v. W. Missouri Mental Health Ctr., 108 S.W.3d 801 (Mo. Ct. App. 2003). · cites it 4× “Count II In Count II, Spearman sought production of her son’s medical records pursuant to Section 191.227, which authorizes the release of a patient’s medical records, and Section 630.”
State ex rel. O'Donnell v. Clifford, 948 S.W.2d 451 (Mo. Ct. App. 1997). · cites it 3× “See Section 191.227 RSMo 1994. Relators urge, however, that Respondent abused his discretion in ordering Clinic to turn over copies of Category 3 files to Doctor because this is contrary to the express terms of the employment agreement.”
Mulberry v. Baker, 897 S.W.2d 624 (Mo. Ct. App. 1995). · cites it 5× “She further supports this point by citing § 191.227, RSMo 1994, and claiming Dr. Fil-berth violated this statute and thus forfeits any fee for the deposition.”
Willa Hynes v. Missouri Dep't of Corr., 689 S.W.3d 516 (Mo. Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 3× “” In the “Legal Response,” DOC Counsel stated that the records were closed pursuant to 2 In that letter, Hynes withdrew her Sunshine Law request for medical records, provided the director with a notarized HIPPA authorization, and requested the DOC produce Decedent’s medical…”
Show all 14 citing cases →
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.