On March 24, 2008 the Georgia Court of Appeals decided the case of Smart Document Solutions v. Hall. Smart Document Solutions is an Atlanta based company that provides photocopying services to physicians and other medical providers. In this day and age, it becomes necessary for attorneys to order medical records in workers’ compensation and personal injury cases in Douglas County and throughout Georgia. I will attest first-hand that much of my small law firm’s time, which is located in Douglasville, Georgia, is spent ordering medical records and reviewing medical records and bills. In this case Smart Document Solutions filed a lawsuit against the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation seeking guidance regarding the appropriate free structure for photocopying services in workers’ compensation cases. Basically, there are two separate sources of authority governing the cost of photocopying medical records. First, there is a statute at OCGA 31 33 3(a) which is known as the Health Records Act. In the past, this law allows a higher cost for photocopying medical records than the rules set out by the State Board of Workers’ Compensation. The simple issue in this case seems to be that Smart Document Solutions wanted some guidance as to what to charge parties for photocopying under the higher Georgia statute which allows a higher rate or to charge under the workers’ compensation scheme which allows a lower rate. The Court of Appeals in Atlanta, GA, held that the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation, rather than the Health Records Act, regulates medical photocopying charges in workers’ compensation cases.
This case is generally good for injured workers in that costs are a primary concern when ordering medical records. As previously discussed, my Douglasville Georgia workers’ compensation law firm handles many on-the-job injury cases. In each case, we must order medical records. We order medical records from providers throughout Atlanta and West Georgia, including Douglasville, Dallas, Hiram, Carrollton, and Haralson County. While sometimes the medical records are provided by the opposing attorney, the cost for these records is to be paid by whoever orders the medical records. This case actually stems from the proposition that the claimants may save money in costs which, if advanced by the law firm, eventually are deducted from the settlement at the end of the case. Unfortunately, the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation adopted the higher costs in the Health Records Act a short time prior to this case being decided
