Do not leave your Doctor's office until... (part 1)

We are seeing an increasing issue where institutions are refusing to give records or charging an enormous fee for them. For, instance, I remember a patient asked for their records and was charged $35.00 for 8 pages of records. Its true that it is legal that they can charge you for the copy and the time for the employee to go find your records and copy them. But, in my opinion, thats highway robbery when you can get someone like Kinkos to make a copy for 10 cents a page.

We have experienced an incidence where someone still owed money for their surgery and they were refused their medical records until the bill was paid. Wrong! We got busy and let that office know that was against the law.

Some offices will say they sent the records and the records were never received. Sometimes the secretary may get busy and just forget to send them out. This of course upsets the patient, and the patient starts wondering who is telling the truth. Other offices do not want to give the records out unless the patient tells them where they are going and why. No doctor wants to loose patients. We tell our patients that you never have to give them that information unless you want to and “never burn the bridges”. Always be kind and be informed of your rights.

It seems we are having to go to battle more and more for our patients than ever before. Your medical records belong to you. In part 2, I will discuss the HIPPA laws and other laws you need to know about.

So much for the negative. What is the solution and what can we do about it? First thing, when you go into your doctor’s office, sign in and kindly tell the secretary “I will want a copy of my report when I leave today.” Tell them, “ I am keeping my own medical file up to date.” It is always easier to get the reports while you are there because your chart is out, the office staff does not feel threatened that you are leaving them or suing them, and most of the time they will not charge you. So much easier than having to go back and request the records.

We tell our patients to become active in your health care. One of the ways to do that is to simply keep track of your own records. There are many ways to organize your records once you get them. The easiest way is simply to put them in a file folder in a safe place. Another way is to buy a three ring notebook binder. This is the way I would suggest doing it.

With a three ring notebook binder, you can organize your records in several ways. One way is to divide your records into the years of treatment. For example, you may label the sections 2011, 2012 and so on. Your records would go in the year you were treated.

Another way to use the notebook, is to organize it by the doctors you see. You would divide the sections into Dr One Name, Dr Two Name, Dr Three Name, and so forth.

The way I feel is the best way is to divide the notebook into “Titles”. Your titles should include Pathology, Radiology (x-rays), Blood Work, Surgery, Office Visits, Correspondents, Insurance Forms, Appointment Dates, and you can even put a section in for Medical Bills.

By keeping your own set of records each time you go to the doctor, it keeps stress down,cost down, and makes you a more empowered patient.