The issues of authenticity and hearsay as they pertain to the admissibility of domestic hospital records are dealt with by CPLR Sections 4518 and 2306. Those provisions specifically authorize receipt into evidence of domestic hospital records which have been properly “certified” and subpoenaed to a New York Supreme Court. In short, the provisions dispense with the requirement of a foundation otherwise required for business records—the testimony of a custodian of the record that it was made, kept and maintained in the ordinary course of business of the hospital facility. See 4518 (c); 2306. Even if the medical facts within the domestic1 hospital records constitute medical opinions, courts readily admit them as evidence, provided they are “certified”2 and transmitted pursuant to CPLR 4518(c) by the medical institution directly to the courthouse as subpoenaed records.
However, not all pertinent medical evidence in litigation is contained in domestic hospital records. In the era of medical specialization and a transient population, the client is likely to have important medical information included within office records of multiple physicians in a plethora of specialties located both in and out of New York State, as well as within the records of foreign hospital institutions. Thus to establish a cause of action at issue, the practitioner frequently finds it necessary to prove a myriad of medical facts and medical opinions set forth in physician’s office records and out-of-state hospital records—hopefully in an efficient and cost conscious manner.
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