The IOD medical records fee settlement promises 35% back on Pennsylvania record-copying charges — but Datavant has capped the money for claims at $9,268,095, and if valid claims exceed that, everyone’s share is cut pro rata. The class is roughly 50,000 persons and entities who paid IOD Incorporated for copies of Pennsylvania medical records between July 15, 2005 and September 3, 2012 and were mailed a notice. Most are law firms, insurers and other non-patient requesters, who can file only online — and they do not have to be located in Pennsylvania to qualify.
Status: Claims open, preliminary approval granted | Claim deadline November 30, 2026 (must be received) | Exclusion deadline October 1, 2026 (must be received) | 35% of qualifying fees, subject to a $9.27 million cap
How the Cap Works
Each approved claim is worth 35% of what the class member actually paid IOD in basic fees, search-and-retrieval fees and per-page copying fees on qualifying requests, however those charges were labeled on the invoice. There is no flat payment and no minimum. A requester who paid for a single $25 record request would recover a few dollars; a firm with hundreds of requests would recover far more.
Datavant has agreed to make up to $9,268,095 available for claims. According to the settlement agreement, Datavant identified roughly 50,000 class members accounting for 379,126 record requests. Two outcomes follow from the cap:
| Valid claims exceed $9,268,095 | The administrator pays every valid claim pro rata, so the effective recovery falls below 35%. |
| Valid claims come in under $9,268,095 | Claimants receive the full 35%, and the unused money goes back to Datavant rather than being redistributed. |
Other costs are paid separately and do not reduce the claims money: attorneys’ fees of up to $1,950,000, litigation costs of up to $32,500, notice and administration expenses estimated at under $140,000, and a $25,000 class service award. The court may award less than was requested, and its fee ruling does not affect the settlement itself.
You Do Not Have to Live in Pennsylvania
The class turns on where the records were, not where the requester was. It covers patients, patient representatives, patient designees (including insurers and attorneys designated by a patient or the patient’s agent) and others who served a subpoena without such a designation, who:
- asked a Pennsylvania healthcare provider or facility for copies of medical records;
- were charged and paid IOD Incorporated or its subsidiaries the maximum basic, search-and-retrieval and/or reproduction fees under 42 Pa.C.S. § 6152(a)(2)(i) as it read between July 15, 2005 and September 3, 2012, with payment in that window; and
- were sent Mail Notice.
An out-of-state law firm that paid IOD for records from a Pennsylvania hospital in that period can qualify. A Pennsylvania resident who was never sent a notice cannot.
Excluded are requests that did not require patient authorization and requests where the maximum fees were not both charged and paid. The notice gives four examples: radiological images; insurers doing audits under a written contract; healthcare providers or facilities; and government entities. Current and former defense counsel, the court and its immediate family and staff, and class counsel are also out.
What the Lawsuit Alleged
The case is David M. Landay v. Datavant, LLC, as successor-in-interest to IOD Incorporated, Case No. GD-09-012922, in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It has been pending since July 2009. The plaintiff alleges that, before the Pennsylvania Medical Records Act was amended effective September 4, 2012, IOD billed the maximum statutory rates instead of its estimated actual and reasonable expenses for locating, retrieving, reproducing and sending records, and that this breached an implied contract.
IOD/Datavant denies every allegation, denies that a class could be certified in litigation and denies that anyone was harmed. It agreed to settle without admitting wrongdoing to avoid further burden, expense and uncertainty. The agreement was signed in June 2026, the caption was changed in May 2026 to name Datavant as IOD’s successor, and the long-form notice is dated July 16, 2026. The agreement’s recitals trace the dispute through the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in the coordinated Wayne M. Chiurazzi Law Inc. v. MRO Corp. appeal, which sent the “actual and reasonable expenses” question back to the trial court.
HealthPort Charges Are Not Included
IOD merged into HealthPort Technologies at the end of 2015. HealthPort renamed itself Ciox Health, LLC in February 2016, and Ciox Health later became Datavant, LLC. Even so, the IOD agreement expressly carves HealthPort Technologies out of the definitions of Defendant and Released Parties, including any HealthPort rights or liabilities that IOD or Datavant later took on. HealthPort charges are the subject of a separate coordinated case, No. GD-09-012923, with its own notice and portal; OpenClassActions.com covers the HealthPort/Datavant settlement on its own page.
Filing: The Notice ID Is the Key
No receipts, invoices or cancelled checks are required. Instead, the portal at the official IOD Settlement PA website opens only with the Class Member ID printed on the mailed notice — a QR code, or a Notice ID plus a PIN. Because the class is limited to people who were sent a notice, that identifier effectively serves as proof of membership.
Inside the account is a Transaction List showing each invoice number and date, the patient whose records were requested, the provider, the amount paid and the benefit for that transaction. The online form lets you:
- confirm or correct the pre-printed name and address;
- select individual transactions, or choose Select All;
- choose a payment method; and
- sign the certification, then review a confirmation screen before submitting.
Patients received a paper Proof of Claim with their notice and may mail it, but a mailed form claims the full total shown on it; picking individual transactions is possible only online. Non-patient requesters — law firms, insurers and businesses, which make up most of the class — received no paper form and must file online.
The claim is signed under penalty of perjury. It certifies that the claimant has not assigned the claims and knows of no one else who filed on the same requests. A patient requestor beneficiary, or a successor to a practice or business that has changed hands, certifies that they hold all rights to the benefit and may be asked to upload documentation. The administrator, American Legal Claims Services, LLC, can request more information and may reject a claim if the request goes unanswered.
Only the online form offers alternatives to a paper check: Zelle, PayPal, Venmo, electronic Mastercard or ACH. The notice warns that some electronic methods carry fees that can reduce what you receive, disclosed when you select them. A lost notice should be handled through the contact options on the official website rather than by guessing at an ID.
Dates That Matter
| September 16, 2026 | Deadline that has passed for filing objections and notices of intent to appear. |
| October 1, 2026 | Written exclusion requests must be received. Not by phone or email. |
| October 16, 2026, 9:00 AM | Final fairness hearing before Judge Alan D. Hertzberg, Courtroom 816, City-County Building, Pittsburgh. |
| November 30, 2026 | Proof of Claim must be received, online or by mail. Postmarks do not count, and no time zone is specified. |
Payments follow the Effective Date, which comes only after the appeal window closes without an appeal or any appeals are resolved; the notice cautions that appeals can take more than a year. Datavant then has 14 days to fund the settlement account, and the administrator has 30 days after the Effective Date to issue payments. Paper checks must be cashed within 90 days of their date. Class members who do nothing get no payment and are still bound by the release if the settlement is approved. The IOD/Datavant page on OpenClassActions.com embeds the full notice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the IOD medical records fee settlement really pay 35%?
It pays 35% of qualifying fees unless valid claims exceed the $9,268,095 Datavant made available. In that case every valid claim is reduced pro rata. If claims come in under the cap, the unused money returns to Datavant.
I am an out-of-state law firm. Am I covered?
Possibly. The class is defined by where the records were held, a Pennsylvania healthcare provider or facility, not by where the requester is located. You must also have paid IOD the maximum statutory fees during the class period and been sent Mail Notice.
Can I claim only some of my transactions?
Yes, but only through the online Electronic Proof of Claim, which lets you select individual transactions or choose Select All. A patient who mails the paper form is claiming the full total shown on it.
Are HealthPort charges part of this settlement?
No. The agreement expressly excludes HealthPort Technologies, LLC. HealthPort charges are handled in a separate coordinated case, No. GD-09-012923.
If my client reimbursed me for records charges, who keeps the money?
The notice tells reimbursed requesters to consider whether the benefit must be passed on, and says attorneys reimbursed by clients may have an ethical obligation to hold the funds in a client trust account and return them. The settlement does not decide that question.
When must my claim arrive?
The Proof of Claim must be received by the administrator by November 30, 2026, whether filed online or mailed. A postmark alone is not enough.
Sources
- Official settlement website and Electronic Proof of Claim — IOD Settlement PA, administered by American Legal Claims Services, LLC.
- Class Settlement Agreement and Release (June 2026), Long Form Notice (July 16, 2026) and Patient and Non-Patient Mail Notices in David M. Landay v. Datavant, LLC, as successor-in-interest to IOD Incorporated, Case No. GD-09-012922, Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
- OpenClassActions.com — IOD/Datavant Medical Records Fee Settlement.
Source and credit: the settlement terms, deadlines and benefit details described above are drawn from our sister site’s reporting — OpenClassActions.com: IOD/Datavant Medical Records Fee Settlement — 35% Refund on Pennsylvania Copying Charges — which tracks this case against the court-approved notice and the official settlement website and is updated as the court rules.
Legal Disclaimer
This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. OpenClassActions.org is a consumer news site, not a law firm and not the settlement administrator, and is not affiliated with any party to the case described. The allegations are allegations; unless a court has ruled, the defendants deny wrongdoing and no court has decided the merits. Deadlines, benefit amounts and payment timing can change as the court and the administrator act, so confirm current status on the official settlement website. You never need to pay anyone to file a claim or to receive a settlement payment.