Medical Records
About medical records
Medical records include, but are not limited to a patient’s medical history, test results, office visit notes, discharge summary, and operative reports of treatments and medical services. The Medical Records Department can provide you with copies of your medical records related to care at a facility.
The medical records offices are not available for patient walk-in services. If you need to collect records in person, please contact us at 617-726-2361 for possible options.
Request patient medical records online
You can use Patient Gateway, our secure, online portal for your health information. Your health information is available to view, download, transmit, and print documents.
Once logged in, click on "Menu" at the top bar and then click "Request Records."
If you are not enrolled in Patient Gateway, simply go to patientgateway.massgeneralbrigham.org and click on "Enroll Now." Respond to the questions and click "Next" to complete the enrollment process.
Request patient medical records by mail or fax
1. Download the authorization form for the facility from which you are requesting records. If you received care at multiple facilities within Mass General Brigham (formerly Partners HealthCare) and would like your entire medical record, please use the Mass General Brigham/Partners HealthCare authorization form.
Authorization forms
Please use this form if you would like your entire medical record from multiple facilities.
Salem Hospital (formerly North Shore Medical Center - Salem)
North Shore Medical Center – Union Hospital
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital - Boston
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital - Cape Cod
Spaulding Hospital for Continuing Medical Care Cambridge
Spaulding Nursing and Therapy Center Brighton
Request medical records at our hospitals or practices
If you received care at the following hospitals or practices, please visit the respective website for information on how to obtain your medical record:
- Brookside Community Healthcare
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
- Cooley Dickinson VNA & Hospice
- Martha's Vineyard Hospital
- Mass General Brigham Home Care
- Milford Regional Physician Group
- North Shore Physician's Group
- Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center
2. Complete the authorization form. Please complete the following required fields properly to process the request:
- Patient’s full name (include maiden name, if applicable)
- Address and telephone number
- Email address
- Date of birth
- Medical record number, if available
- Date of service
- Provider name or facility or clinic name requesting records from
Identify the method for us to share the requested medical records by clearly indicating the mailing address, fax number, email address, or Patient Gateway (if available).
3. Sign and date the completed authorization form.
4. With all required information included, please fax or mail your request to:
Release of Information Fax: 617-726-3661
Mailing Address:
Mass General Brigham
Release of Information Unit
121 Inner Belt, Room 240
Somerville, MA 02143-4453
Do not e-mail this request. We cannot guarantee security of all Personally Identifiable Information included in the form if submitted via e-mail.
Note: In-person pickup is not available at this time. The medical records offices are closed indefinitely to patient walk-in services effective Thursday March 19, 2020 due to COVID-19.
Additional authorization may also be required for the release of specifically protected or privileged information. Certain information can take up to 30 days for processing.
For Release of Information questions, please call Customer Service at 617-726-2361.
For Audit-related questions, please call 857-282-8730 or fax 617-726-3025.
Additional details
Mass General Brigham Imaging provides images and reports of radiology exams to patients electronically. You can see your images and reports in Patient Gateway as soon as a radiologist finalizes them. Your care team at Mass General Brigham can also see your images and reports in our secure systems. If you need a copy of the report and not the images, please contact Medical Records at 617-726-2361.
A radiologist interprets the images from your exam and sends a report to your doctor with the results. Some images take longer to process than others. You may see your report before your care team has a chance to review it. Please give them a few days to go over the results before they contact you.
Mass General Brigham Imaging will let your care team know as soon as possible if your results show anything unusual. If you have any questions about your report, please get in touch with your care team. If you have a Patient Gateway account, you can message them directly from the portal.
How to share your images and reports
If you want to share your images and reports with a provider outside of Mass General Brigham or make an internal request, please use this form to place an order online. All orders must include a signed release authorization form.
All images are sent using electronic transfer. If you need a CD or DVD, we can mail it to you or you can pick it up. To pick up a CD or DVD, please bring a photo ID and written permission from the patient (if needed) to our office. We are open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and located at:
55 Fruit Street, Blake Building
Blake Subbasement 0029
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-726-1798
Fax: 617-724-0264
Email: ImageServiceCenter@mgb.org
Second opinion services
Our radiologists can provide a written second opinion to you and your referring physician on your diagnostic imaging tests, including X-ray, CT, MRI, PET, and ultrasound. Your interpretation is provided by a radiologist with specialty training in the area of the body being studied.
Our second opinion service is available through Mass General Brigham Online Second Opinions.
The Medical Records Department is unable to provide birth or death certificates. Please contact the appropriate city/town hall to obtain a copy.
To request copies of medical records of a deceased patient, the request must be accompanied by authorization from the Executor, Executrix, Administrator of the Estate or Personal Representative, along with documentation indicating legal authority.
To request an amendment by mail, fax, or email, please complete the form below and send it to the Chart Correction Unit.
Request for Amendment in Medical Record
Mail:
399 Revolution Drive, Suite 970
Somerville, MA 02145
Fax: 857-282-8110
Email: HIMChartcorrection@partners.org
If you have questions about the medical record amendment process, please call 857-282-9736.
If you have an active Patient Gateway account, Patient Amendment requests can be completed and submitted there. Access your Patient Gateway account and from the "Menu" button on the left select "FAQs" and then "Chart Correction". This will then display the amendment request.