§164.528(c) Implementation specifications: Provision of the accounting. (1) The covered entity must act on the individual’s request for an accounting, no later than 60 days after receipt of such a request, as follows.
(i) The covered entity must provide the individual with the accounting requested; or
(ii) If the covered entity is unable to provide the accounting within the time required by paragraph (c)(1) of this section, the covered entity may extend the time to provide the accounting by no more than 30 days, provided that: (A) The covered entity, within the time limit set by paragraph (c)(1) of this section, provides the individual with a written statement of the reasons for the delay and the date by which the covered entity will provide the accounting; and (B) The covered entity may have only one such extension of time for action on a request for an accounting.
§164.528(c)(2) The covered entity must provide the first accounting to an individual in any 12 month period without charge. The covered entity may impose a reasonable, cost-based fee for each subsequent request for an accounting by the same individual within the 12 month period, provided that the covered entity informs the individual in advance of the fee and provides the individual with an opportunity to withdraw or modify the request for a subsequent accounting in order to avoid or reduce the fee.
Audit Inquiry
Does the covered entity have policies and procedures consistent with the established performance criterion to provide an individual with a requested accounting of PHI with in the time and fee limitations specified?
Obtain and review policies and procedures to determine if the process to provide the individual with the requested accounting of PHI complies with the established performance criterion.
Review documentation obtained through items P75, P76 for consistency with this criteria.