Neb. Rev. Stat. § 71-8403

Access to medical records

These requirements apply to any licensed or certified health care practitioner or entity/facility. 

A patient may submit a written request to examine or receive a copy of his or her medical records to a provider. Within thirty days of receiving a request for a copy of such records, the provider must provide a copy to the person making the request. As promptly as required under the circumstances but no later than ten days after receiving a request to examine such records, the provider must take one of the following actions: 

• Make the medical records available for examination during regular business hours;
• If the records do not exist or cannot be found, inform the patient;
• If the provider does not maintain the records, inform the patient of the name and address of the provider who maintains such records, if known; or
• If unusual circumstances have delayed handling the request, inform the patient in writing of the reasons for the delay and the earliest date (no later than 21 days after receiving the request), when the records will be available for examination. 

Mental health medical records may be withheld if any treating practitioner determines in his or her professional opinion that release of the records would not be in the best interest of the patient, unless the release is required by court order.