The most important resource for information about individual rights to their health information and its privacy can be found at the Department of Health and Human Services as part of HIPAA (Health Information Portability and Accountability Act). While most have come to know HIPAA as the initiative which safeguards confidentiality, and it is, it was actually born of the desire to establish a set of standards and protocols for making medical information MORE portable and interchangeable among doctors, insurance providers, pharmacies, etc.

One very good aspect of HIPAA is that in addition to providing for relatively absolute privacy without consent, it also sets forth, in unequivocal terms, a patient's rights to obtain his or her own medical information and firmly establishes the patient as the owner thereof. Usually stating that you are fimiliar with your rights under HIPAA is enough to get a hesitant doctor moving, but there really should be no reason for him to resist, unless he has been keeping inadequate or substandard records, or is intentionally trying to be difficult. Nevertheless, the sanctions for interfering with your own access to your own records is as stiff as for disclosing them withour your consent.

I hope this helps!