Health Information Services / Medical Records

To begin, download and complete our Authorization for Disclosure of Medical Information Form, paying close attention to the center box requesting additional, individual signatures for each type of sensitive information you are authorizing to be released. *

* Requests for medical records that contain highly sensitive, protected health information, as defined by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), need to have the patient’s implicit authorization to be released. See the box in the center of our Authorization for Disclosure of Medical Information Form that lists the categories of sensitive information. We require that you sign off on each type of information that you are allowing us to release.
Often patients do not realize that their records contain sensitive, protected health information. Diagnoses, treatment (including prescriptions), and testing for any of these types of sensitive information require the patient’s additional signature for release. If we have questions about what you have signed or what you have decided not to sign, we will reach out to you for further discussion and/or clarification.

Until further notice, please send your completed and signed authorization via email to mrecords@huhs.harvard.edu or mail via USPS (security of all personally identifiable information is not guaranteed if submitted via email):

Harvard University Health Services 
Health Information Services / Medical Records
Smith Campus Center
75 Mt Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Office Hours: Monday – Friday 8:00AM-5:00PM
Phone: (617) 495- 2055
Fax: (617) 495 – 8077
Email: mrecords@huhs.harvard.edu

Should you have any questions, please call HUHS Health Information Services / Medical Records for assistance.
Please note that our turnaround time for processing requests varies. While most are released within 7 business days of receipt, there are circumstances where the release may take longer.  If there is a date by which you need your records, please specify on your request or give us a call.

For Dental records or Radiology CDs or films, download and complete our Authorization for Disclosure of Medical Information Form. The completed and signed Authorization can be emailed to Medical Records at mrecords@huhs.harvard.edu or faxed to Radiology.

Health Information Services / Medical Records
Smith Campus Center
75 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: (617) 495- 2055
Fax: (617) 495 – 8077
Email: mrecords@huhs.harvard.edu

Radiology          
Smith Campus Center
75 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: (617) 496-0699
Fax: (617) 496-0580

The best and quickest way to obtain your immunization record is to log into your Patient Portal account and print your immunization record directly.

If you do not have access to the Patient Portal, you may also request your immunization record by following the steps outlined above in Requesting Copies of Your Medical Records.

You may utilize the Authorization for Release of Medical Information to HUHS to have your outside records sent to HUHS.

Be aware that some providers’ offices/organizations may require that you complete their own authorization form. Check with your outside provider to find out which they prefer.

Due to privacy laws, HUHS cannot intervene on your behalf to have your outside records released to us. You will need to follow up directly with your provider’s office for updates or the status of these requests.

Once your records are sent to HUHS, your provider and Health Information Services/Medical Records will ensure that they get scanned into your HUHS electronic medical record.

Harvard College and Harvard University Health Services strive to treat our college students as the young adults they are.  We are mindful that they need to practice autonomous decision-making and self-care.   Having the privilege of keeping medical information private is one of many autonomous rights of an adult afforded to Harvard College students.  We believe that accepting blanket medical record authorizations to allow parents to access a student’s records, signed at or near the time a student is entering college, reinforces dependency, not independent decision-making.  This is not to say that medical privacy is valued above all others.  Certainly, we accept authorizations to share medical information made at the time, identifying specific records and specific people or entities.  Also, if our medical professionals have reason to determine that a patient is a danger to themselves or others, the law permits disclosure to anyone who may be able to help.  This includes parents as well as others.

Medical privacy laws are designed to encourage people to access health care.  Few people would seek care if they believed their medical records would be available for others to see.  College students are a hard-to-reach population if only because they may not have developed a habit of seeking medical care independently.  This is why HUHS makes great efforts to encourage them to come to HUHS by sending surveys to first-year students, distributing flyers in housing, and visiting dining halls, fairs, and other gatherings.  It is also the case that college students seek care for issues that are particularly private (birth control, STDs, unwanted pregnancies, substance and alcohol abuse and their associated injuries, depression, and anxiety).  Without a promise of medical privacy, we believe many of these conditions/situations would go untreated, either entirely or until the conditions have worsened unnecessarily.  Thus, HUHS does not accept blanket medical record authorizations from students because we believe them to be a barrier to care.