It has always bothered me that at most doctor's offices, medical records are treated like secrets. It would bother me that when the nurse left the examination room, she would take the records with her and plop them in the door. Heaven forbid I should sneak a peak at records describing me!
According to the government, "The Privacy Rule gives you, with few exceptions, the right to inspect, review, and receive a copy of your medical records and billing records that are held by health plans and health care providers covered by the Privacy Rule." But actually getting providers to hand over those records can be expensive and sometimes frustrating.
I have had a few doctors offices that are great. When we asked our cardiologist how we could get a copy of the echocardiogram he was running on our son, he happily popped in a CD and burned us a copy on the spot. When I went by later to get a copy of his EKG, the receptionist printed it out from her computer. Part of the trick is knowing who to ask. When we arrived for the echo, we asked the receptionist if we'd be able to get a copy ad she acted like it wouldn't be possible--in reality she just had no idea. Persistence paid off and the doctor gave us no trouble over it all.
Many offices and especially offices out-source their records to third-party companies. That means if you want a copy, you usually have to fill out a form and commit to an indefinite amount of money for copying said records. How much they can charge you varies from state to state. You can look for your state here.
After fun experiences with knee surgery and a decision to never go back to the Carilion hospital near us, I wanted to gather all the records from their system. After talking to the records department on the phone, I filled out the necessary form and submitted it. The records office warned me that asking for all my records could result in thousands of pages and thousands of dollars so I might want to be more selective. I wanted it all so I continued on. I was very surprised when I received a very thin envelope from HeathPort, the 3rd party information company that Carilion uses to store and retrieve its medical records. There were so few pages that it fell into the free category. The documents contained spotty information on a few procedures I'd had done and none on others. We called HealthPort. Their customer service was unfriendly and unhelpful. They insisted that they'd sent my complete records and demanded to know how we could know something was missing. Hmmm, because they were missing entire procedures! We finally got them to grudgingly agree to try again. A few weeks later we got a larger package. This time it included an invoice for around $20. This time it at least had mention of all the procedures and had a more complete record of the surgery I'd had done. The copies were terrible quality but at least they were there. Still no images, though, even though we'd expressly checked that box on the records request form. No images from EKG, EEGs, MRIs, surgery, etc. We called HealthPort again and were told they don't do any images and that we'd have to contact the hospital.
Back I went to the hospital record office. I sat there for over an hour while they tried to find and print out my images. They kept asking, "Are you really sure you had it done here? We can't find you?" That is definitely confidence-building. Finally they managed to find and print one EKG. I was told that they didn't have my EEGs. I'd have to try to contact the neurologist who ordered them. And they didn't have any images from the surgery. I'd have to ask the orthopedic surgeon about that. They also told me that I'd have to go to Imaging to get copies of the MRIs. That would have been nice to know before I'd already waited an hour because when I went to Imaging, sure enough, they could burn a disk for me, but it would be an hour or two wait. And no one ever, in the process of getting the MRIs, had let me in on the fact I could get copy of the images or how to do so. They only tell you if you ask.
It was a long and frustrating day. I still haven't gotten up the energy to go through all that again with the orthopedic surgeon's office, but one of these days, I will.
So why bother getting them at all? Because unless you stay in the same town with the same doctor your whole life, this information will disappear. And someday you might want it. After all this, I realized I should try to get some records from a previous doctor in a previous state. I called... but it was too late. They'd been destroyed. How long medical facilities must keep records varies from state to state. You can check out yours here.
Even if you stay with the same practice, if your doctor changes it seems to make your records vanish. I requested my records from the family physician's office I've been using. It came from another third party and was decently complete, except that it contained nothing from the first doctor I'd seen at that practice years ago. She was my doctor for several years and then left the practice and I was transferred to another doctor. The records contained none of the tests or visits I'd had with her, and there were a few things I wish I had.
So the moral of the story is: demand what belongs to you. You paid for these tests and treatments. You should have a record of what was done and how it was done. Don't wait for some one to offer the records to you (they won't). Don't wait until you need them or they may already be gone.
According to the government, "The Privacy Rule gives you, with few exceptions, the right to inspect, review, and receive a copy of your medical records and billing records that are held by health plans and health care providers covered by the Privacy Rule." But actually getting providers to hand over those records can be expensive and sometimes frustrating.
I have had a few doctors offices that are great. When we asked our cardiologist how we could get a copy of the echocardiogram he was running on our son, he happily popped in a CD and burned us a copy on the spot. When I went by later to get a copy of his EKG, the receptionist printed it out from her computer. Part of the trick is knowing who to ask. When we arrived for the echo, we asked the receptionist if we'd be able to get a copy ad she acted like it wouldn't be possible--in reality she just had no idea. Persistence paid off and the doctor gave us no trouble over it all.
Many offices and especially offices out-source their records to third-party companies. That means if you want a copy, you usually have to fill out a form and commit to an indefinite amount of money for copying said records. How much they can charge you varies from state to state. You can look for your state here.
After fun experiences with knee surgery and a decision to never go back to the Carilion hospital near us, I wanted to gather all the records from their system. After talking to the records department on the phone, I filled out the necessary form and submitted it. The records office warned me that asking for all my records could result in thousands of pages and thousands of dollars so I might want to be more selective. I wanted it all so I continued on. I was very surprised when I received a very thin envelope from HeathPort, the 3rd party information company that Carilion uses to store and retrieve its medical records. There were so few pages that it fell into the free category. The documents contained spotty information on a few procedures I'd had done and none on others. We called HealthPort. Their customer service was unfriendly and unhelpful. They insisted that they'd sent my complete records and demanded to know how we could know something was missing. Hmmm, because they were missing entire procedures! We finally got them to grudgingly agree to try again. A few weeks later we got a larger package. This time it included an invoice for around $20. This time it at least had mention of all the procedures and had a more complete record of the surgery I'd had done. The copies were terrible quality but at least they were there. Still no images, though, even though we'd expressly checked that box on the records request form. No images from EKG, EEGs, MRIs, surgery, etc. We called HealthPort again and were told they don't do any images and that we'd have to contact the hospital.
Back I went to the hospital record office. I sat there for over an hour while they tried to find and print out my images. They kept asking, "Are you really sure you had it done here? We can't find you?" That is definitely confidence-building. Finally they managed to find and print one EKG. I was told that they didn't have my EEGs. I'd have to try to contact the neurologist who ordered them. And they didn't have any images from the surgery. I'd have to ask the orthopedic surgeon about that. They also told me that I'd have to go to Imaging to get copies of the MRIs. That would have been nice to know before I'd already waited an hour because when I went to Imaging, sure enough, they could burn a disk for me, but it would be an hour or two wait. And no one ever, in the process of getting the MRIs, had let me in on the fact I could get copy of the images or how to do so. They only tell you if you ask.
It was a long and frustrating day. I still haven't gotten up the energy to go through all that again with the orthopedic surgeon's office, but one of these days, I will.
So why bother getting them at all? Because unless you stay in the same town with the same doctor your whole life, this information will disappear. And someday you might want it. After all this, I realized I should try to get some records from a previous doctor in a previous state. I called... but it was too late. They'd been destroyed. How long medical facilities must keep records varies from state to state. You can check out yours here.
Even if you stay with the same practice, if your doctor changes it seems to make your records vanish. I requested my records from the family physician's office I've been using. It came from another third party and was decently complete, except that it contained nothing from the first doctor I'd seen at that practice years ago. She was my doctor for several years and then left the practice and I was transferred to another doctor. The records contained none of the tests or visits I'd had with her, and there were a few things I wish I had.
So the moral of the story is: demand what belongs to you. You paid for these tests and treatments. You should have a record of what was done and how it was done. Don't wait for some one to offer the records to you (they won't). Don't wait until you need them or they may already be gone.
