How to Obtain Your Private Medical Records
Private medical records are everything you received outside the VA. These are your civilian doctor visits, hospital treatments, ER visits, chiropractic care, physical therapy, mental health notes, sleep studies, cardiology, orthopedics, imaging centers, and any other treatment that was not done at a VA facility.
These records are extremely important because they show what has been happening with your health when you were not inside the VA system. Many veterans forget that the VA cannot see these records unless you give them to us. Private records help prove chronic symptoms, worsening pain, diagnoses the VA never captured, test results, and long term treatment patterns.
Steps to obtain
Identify every place you have been seen
Think of anywhere you received treatment:
- family doctor
- ER visits
- hospitals
- specialists
- therapy
- urgent care
- imaging
- sleep studies
Make a quick list of the names.
Call each provider or check their patient portal
You can request records in two ways:
- calling the office
- using their online patient portal if you already have one
Tell them, “I need a complete copy of my medical records for personal use.” Ask for:
- all office notes
- all test results
- all imaging reports
- all procedure reports
- all labs
- any consult notes
If it was a hospital or ER, say “I need my complete emergency room record or complete hospital record.”
Tell them you want the records sent to you directly
This is important.
You can choose:
- patient portal download
- printed copies for pickup
- mailed copies
Email and portal download are fastest.
What if they require a release form?
Some clinics will need you to fill out a Release of Information form. They will email it to you or provide a link. Fill out:
- your name
- date of birth
- address
- what records you want
- sign and date it
If they ask where to send the records, write “Send directly to me.” Then provide your email or allow portal download.
Download or scan your records
When you receive your records, do not send physical copies through the mail. Instead:
- download the PDFs
- or scan printed pages
Upload them to us.
Repeat for every provider
If you saw multiple doctors, do the same steps for each office. Private records often come from many places and every piece helps your Nexus file.
Special instructions for imaging centers
For MRIs, CT scans, X rays, and ultrasounds, ask for both:
- the radiologist report
- the imaging CD if available
We mainly need the written report for Nexus work, but the CD can help in rare cases.
Special instructions for sleep studies
Request:
- the full sleep study report
- the AHI and RDI values
- CPAP compliance download if you have a machine
These are standard items and any sleep lab can print them.
Pharmacy prescription list
You can call your pharmacy and say “I need a printout of all medications I have been prescribed in the last several years.” They can email or print this.