Direct answer: Former patients learn who holds their records now and how to ask for a copy, and we print and mail every letter for you. You upload the letter and your patient list, check the proof and the full price on screen, and approve. Nothing prints until someone on your staff says yes.
Records moving? Point patients there in one upload.
By the USMail.ai team, more than 50 years of combined expertise in printing and mailing
When does a practice send a records release letter?
Most offices send one when patient records change hands or change address. The usual triggers are a practice closing, a merger or sale, a move to a new building, or a doctor leaving and taking a panel of patients along. Some practices fold the records details into the closing letter. Others send a second, shorter letter later, once the custodian is set, so former patients have one clear place to call. Either way, the letter answers the question patients ask first: where are my records now, and how do I get a copy? Your licensing board or counsel decides what your letter must say and when it must go out.
What should the letter say?
Keep it short and plain. Most records letters cover the name of the person or company that now holds the records, a mailing address and phone number for requests, how a patient asks for a copy or a transfer to a new doctor, and how long the records will be kept. Many practices add the date the change takes effect and a thank-you for the years of care. Your team writes the letter and decides what goes in it. USMail.ai prints the file you upload exactly as you approve it; we don't write or review the content of a patient letter.
Who should get it?
Usually every patient seen within a lookback period your office picks, not only active patients, because former patients are the ones most likely to need their records later. Export the list from your practice management system, remove patients who have died, and remove duplicate households if you mail one letter per address. For a minor, address the letter to the parent or guardian on file. Every address comes from you. We check every address before mailing, and the AI never suggests or adds one.
How does this fit with the closing letter?
If the practice is closing, the closing letter usually goes first and names the last day you see patients. The practice closing letter page covers that mailing. A records letter can follow once the custodian is in place, or the two can travel together as one letter. Other changes that touch patients, such as a doctor leaving a group, are on the medical office mailing hub.
How does mailing work on USMail.ai?
You upload. You approve. We produce. An office manager uploads the records letter as a PDF or document, adds the patient list, and checks the proof on screen. You see the complete price before you approve, and nothing prints until you do. From our own production floor: we print, envelope and hand each piece to USPS, and you see the proof and the full price before you approve.
If plans change, you can unapprove an approved job before its mail date, and the money goes back on your meter balance, not your card.
Which mail class fits a records letter?
First-Class Mail is the everyday choice for a letter to a long list of former patients. For a smaller group where your office wants a USPS record of mailing, you can choose Certified Mail. Certified Mail is $1.15 plus the current USPS Certified Mail fee, which USPS publishes in Notice 123. You see the full price before you approve. We don't offer paper Return Receipt yet. USPS delivery times vary, and USPS lists First-Class Mail at 1-5 business days on its First-Class Mail page. Ask your counsel which class, if any, your situation calls for.
What does it cost?
Letters starting at $1.15, postage included. For a one-page, single-sided, black-and-white First-Class letter. You see the full price for the whole mailing before you approve. A meter balance is optional, and you can pay per mailing. USMail.ai is an AI print-to-mail platform, not USPS.
What do people ask about USMail.ai?
Do you write the records letter for us?
No. Your team writes the letter and chooses who gets it. We print the file you upload, as you approved it, and mail it.
Can we send the records letter with our closing letter?
Yes. Many practices put the records details in the closing letter itself. Upload the combined letter as one file and approve it once.
Can some records letters go by Certified Mail?
Yes. Certified Mail is $1.15 plus the current USPS Certified Mail fee. We don't offer paper Return Receipt yet.
Do you find new addresses for former patients?
No. Every address comes from you, and the AI never suggests one. We check every address before mailing.
When does my letter go to USPS?
By default, letters you approve before 10 p.m. CT are handed to USPS the next business day (Monday to Friday). USPS delivery times vary. USPS handles delivery from there. There are no contracts, subscriptions or setup fees.