I am going to  state for everyone who reads this, HIPPAA is for the patient!  One aspect of the HIPAA law is  for the patient to have access to their records in a timely fashion.  It was not designed for the hospital or the doctor to control.  It seems basic but you would be surprised how many times I have to either call a medical office or hospital for a client  and ask for an explanation as to why the records have not been released.  I frequently hear from the medical records official, the patient needs to sign a release.  I usually inform the official, I am holding a copy of the release.  I have had a major hospital in San Diego tell me, the records couldn't be released because of HIPAA rules which were a patient could only have the records after discharge from the hospital.  I didn't know whether to ask if he was trying to be funny or if he had lost his mind.  Instead, I requested to speak with his supervisor.  My client had the complete records the next morning.