How to Fax a Medical Records Release to Kaiser Permanente
A signed HIPAA authorization is what lets Kaiser Permanente disclose a patient's chart to you, an attorney, or another treating provider, and its Release of Information team accepts that authorization by fax. This guide covers what to put on the release so it isn't kicked back, how to find the current fax number for the region that treated the patient, and how to keep dated proof of when the request went in. Kaiser members can also start many records requests through the online member portal, which is worth knowing before you fax.
Does Kaiser Permanente accept a fax?
Yes — Kaiser Permanente's Release of Information staff process a signed authorization received by fax as one accepted way to request records, and a faxed release lands as a written, dated request tied to a specific patient. Because Kaiser is organized by region, the release goes to the medical-records office serving the location where the patient was actually seen.
Finding the official fax number
The right fax line is the Release of Information number for the Kaiser region and facility that treated the patient, not a single national line. Find it on Kaiser Permanente's request-your-medical-records page for that region or printed on Kaiser's own authorization form, and confirm it before every send because a records release carries protected health information.
What to include on every page
- The patient's full legal name, date of birth, and Kaiser medical record number if known
- The specific records and the exact date range being requested
- The name and address of the person or organization authorized to receive the records
- The patient's signature and the date signed — an unsigned or undated release is not honored
How to fax Medical Records Release Authorization (HIPAA Authorization Form) to Kaiser Permanente
- 1Complete the HIPAA authorization, naming the patient, the records, the date range, and the recipient
- 2Have the patient (or their legal representative) sign and date the release
- 3Confirm the current Release of Information fax number for the treating Kaiser region
- 4Scan or export the signed authorization as a clear, high-contrast PDF
- 5Log in to Send FAX Mail, upload the PDF, enter the confirmed fax number, and send
- 6Save the dated transmission confirmation as proof of when the request reached Kaiser
Confirming it arrived
Send FAX Mail returns a dated delivery confirmation the moment the release reaches Kaiser's fax line — keep it with your copy of the signed authorization. Fulfilling the request itself can take time, so follow up with the region's Release of Information office if you don't hear back, using that confirmation as evidence of your submission date.
What’s current · as of July 2026
- HIPAA large-breach reporting threshold
- 500+ individuals — reported to HHS OCR without unreasonable delay Source: HHS Office for Civil Rights
- HIPAA documentation retention period
- 6 years from creation or last-effective date Source: HHS — HIPAA Administrative Requirements (45 CFR 164.316)
Recent updates
Federal interoperability rules keep pushing healthcare past the fax machine
CMS has advanced a series of interoperability rules that press hospitals, payers, and providers toward electronic data exchange and standardized claims attachments. The direction of travel is clear: paper and analog fax workflows are being replaced by digital transmission that carries an auditable record — which is exactly what a cloud fax with delivery confirmation provides for offices not yet on a full EHR pipeline.
CMS →Healthcare breach reporting keeps document handling under scrutiny
Ongoing reporting on HIPAA breaches and OCR settlements underscores how much scrutiny falls on how medical documents are stored, sent, and received. Sending records through a controlled, access-logged channel rather than an unmanaged machine reduces the mishandling risks that show up repeatedly in breach analyses.
HIPAA Journal →HHS OCR continues enforcing HIPAA safeguards on how PHI is transmitted
The HHS Office for Civil Rights enforces the HIPAA Security Rule's requirement that covered entities apply administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protected health information in transit. Faxing PHI is permitted, but the sending practice is responsible for confirming the destination and controlling access — the reason healthcare senders favor a channel that logs each transmission and its recipient.
HHS Office for Civil Rights →
Faxing Medical Records Release Authorization (HIPAA Authorization Form) to Kaiser Permanente — FAQ
Kaiser Permanente's Release of Information team accepts a signed HIPAA authorization by fax, and members can also begin a records request inside the online member portal. Faxing the signed release works well when the request needs to be tied in writing to a specific patient and date range.
Both paths are valid. If you have online access, the Kaiser member portal lets you request many of your own records without faxing anything; a signed release faxed to Release of Information is the route when someone other than the patient needs the records or the portal doesn't cover the date range you want.
Kaiser handles records by region and facility, so the correct line is the Release of Information number for the location that treated the patient. Get it from Kaiser's medical-records page for that region or off Kaiser's own authorization form rather than reusing a number from an earlier request.
Keep the dated transmission confirmation that Send FAX Mail returns once the pages land. If Kaiser later asks when the authorization arrived, that timestamped record marks the submission moment, which matters because processing the release itself can stretch over a period of time.
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