Getting Your Medical Records After a Catastrophic Injury in New Mexico

To get medical records after a catastrophic injury in New Mexico, ask each provider in writing for the complete chart, including imaging and billing. Start early, because a claim depends on a complete medical picture.

This guide covers which records matter, who can ask for them, how to make each request, and how New Mexico’s deadlines affect timing. It is general information, not advice about your case.

What Medical Records a Catastrophic Injury Claim Usually Needs

A claim built on a catastrophic injury needs the full medical story, not just the discharge summary. Injuries such as spinal cord injuries, amputations, and severe burns often involve many providers over many months.

Collect these core records:

• Ambulance and EMS run reports
• Emergency department notes
• Admission records and operative reports
• ICU and hospital progress notes
• Discharge instructions and medication lists
• Imaging reports and itemized bills

Ask for records from every facility involved, including transfer hospitals and trauma centers. A patient often moves from one hospital to another, and each stay creates its own file. One missing piece can leave a gap in the timeline of what happened.

Our catastrophic injury overview explains the injury types we handle.

Who Can Request Your Medical Records in New Mexico

For most adults who can act for themselves, this is the simplest path.

This is often a court-appointed guardian or a personal representative. The provider will ask for proof of that authority, so bring the court papers or other documents you have.

Providers usually ask for a signed authorization form. Read it before you sign. Check the provider name, the dates, and the records it covers. Ask for a copy of what you sign.

Avoid broad, open-ended forms. Ask for one that names the dates and record types you actually need. A records request is different from a settlement or release, and those documents carry their own rules, covered below.

Step-by-Step: How to Request Records From Each Provider

Work through one provider at a time. A simple checklist keeps small details from slipping through.

1. List every provider. Include the ambulance service, emergency department, hospital, surgeons, ICU, inpatient rehab, outpatient therapy, primary care, pharmacy, and imaging centers.
2. Write down the details. For each one, note the facility name, address, dates of service, and the patient’s full name and date of birth.
3. Send a written request. Address it to the facility’s medical records or health information department. Name the date range and the record types you need.
4. Ask for the full chart. Request a complete copy, not a summary. Ask for imaging on disc or in digital form, with the radiology reports.
5. Keep proof. Save a copy of each request, the date you sent it, and any confirmation number.

How Long Requests Can Take

Requests can take weeks, and each facility works on its own schedule. You may receive records from the ambulance service long before the rehab center sends its file.

Some facilities send records in batches, so the first packet may be incomplete. Check each packet against your list of dates. If a visit is missing, write back and name that date.

Follow up in writing if you hear nothing. Keep the follow-up letter with the original request. This creates a clear paper trail of what you asked for and when.

File requests early. Waiting gives gaps more time to grow, and it leaves less time to fill them before the claim timeline moves forward.

Imaging, Therapy, and Rehabilitation Records

Rehabilitation records often matter most after a long-term injury. They show function, progress, and setbacks across months, not just the first days in the hospital.

Spinal cord injuries depend heavily on the level of injury. The NINDS spinal cord injury overview explains that cervical nerves C1 to C7 control signals to the arms, hands, and diaphragm. It also states that an injury between C1 and C4 can stop breathing. That is why respiratory, therapy, and rehab notes deserve close attention. Our spinal cord injury overview covers this practice area in more detail.

From inpatient rehab and outpatient therapy, request these items:

• Evaluations and treatment notes
• Progress reports
• Discharge summaries

Prosthetics and orthotics fitting records matter after an amputation. Wound care logs matter after a burn. Neurology and neuropsychology evaluations often sit with separate providers, so request them separately.

Imaging files, such as MRI, CT, and X-ray images, often sit in a separate system from the written report. Ask for both the images and the report.

Records Needed for a Wrongful Death Claim

If a catastrophic injury leads to death, the family needs the full hospital and medical file. The death certificate is also a record to keep with the medical file.

Under NMSA 1978, § 41-2-3, a wrongful death action “shall be brought by and in the name of the personal representative of the deceased person.” Family members usually do not file the case on their own. Under Rule 1-017 NMRA, the personal representative is appointed by the district court, and a petition to appoint one may be filed before the action or with it.

If an autopsy was done, ask the office that performed it for its report in writing.

How Long Providers Keep Records and Why Timing Matters

Don’t assume older records will stay on file. Request them early, while you still have time to follow up.

Dates are easy to lose. Write down the date of each injury, each surgery, and each discharge. Those dates drive the deadline questions below.

New Mexico law sets three years as the time to bring an action for an injury to the person or reputation of any person, as provided in Section 37-1-8 of the New Mexico Statutes. For wrongful death, the action must be brought within three years after the cause of action accrues, and it accrues on the date of death, under NMSA 1978, § 41-2-2.

Some people get more time. Section 37-1-10 of the New Mexico Statutes extends the time limits set by the preceding provisions of that chapter in favor of minors and incapacitated persons, giving them one year from and after the end of the incapacity to commence their actions.

Claims against health care providers can follow a different rule.

Organizing Your Records and Avoiding Common Gaps

Keep one folder for each provider. Add a running list of requests with dates, and a timeline of the injury and treatment. Store the original papers safely and work from copies.

Watch for these common gaps:

• Missing EMS run reports
• Records from a transferred facility
• Bills with no matching clinical notes
• Pharmacy records for medications
• Notes from only the first admission, not the full course of care

Early release forms need extra care. Section 41-1-1 of the New Mexico Statutes provides that, within fifteen days from the date of the occurrence causing the injury, no person whose interest is or may become adverse to an injured person who is either under the care of a person licensed to practice the healing arts or confined to a hospital or sanitarium as a patient shall negotiate or attempt to negotiate a settlement with the injured patient, obtain or attempt to obtain a general release of liability from the injured patient, or obtain or attempt to obtain any written or oral statement from the injured patient for use in negotiating a settlement or obtaining a release. The same statute says a settlement, release, or written statement is void unless the injured party acknowledges it before a notary with no adverse interest.

Read every insurer form line by line before you sign. Ask for a copy of anything you sign, and note the date you signed it.

Your Records After a Serious Injury: Next Steps With El Gringo Law

If you’re gathering records for a family member in rehab after a spinal cord injury or amputation, you may feel stuck between medical paperwork and big decisions. You may still be collecting hospital and therapy files while you decide whether a claim makes sense.

We can help you think through which records to request first and how New Mexico timing rules may apply to your dates. Your initial consultation is free and confidential, with no obligation to continue.

Reach out through our contact form to start that conversation.

This page is the responsibility of Josh Wood, licensed in New Mexico and Arizona, of El Gringo Law. Contact details are on our contact page.

Frequently asked questions

Include your full name, date of birth, and the dates of care.

Providers will ask for proof of that authority.