In Townsend v. ChartSwap, LLC, (2019AP002034), the District I Court of Appeals held that a record providing service was an agent of a health care provider, and therefore was bound by the statutory limits imposed on the health care provider.

Facts

After an accident, Townsend requested her medical and billing records from Milwaukee Radiologists. ChartSwap, on behalf of Milwaukee Radiologists, provided the records, charging $35.78. However, Wis. Stat. § 146.83(3f)(b) provides a limit on how much a health care provider can charge for providing records. In this case, the statutory charge would have been $1. Townsend brought a class action suit against ChartSwap based on this practice. In the circuit court, ChartSwap was granted a motion to dismiss because Wis. Stat. § 146.83(3f)(b) only governs health care provider, and they are not one. Townsend appealed.

Discussion

The court focused on reading the law in context of other laws. Specifically, the court turned to Wis. Stat. § 990.001(9), which deals with the use of a an agent to satisfy statutory requirements. The court found that because ChartSwap was an authorized agent of Milwaukee Radiologists, who are a health care provider, ChartSwap are bound by the statutory prices for medical records. The court of appeals reversed and remanded.