Meanwhile, in the real world, after getting a “referral” to a doctor at a different hospital, my first appointment consisted of doctor from hospital 2 saying “well, we don’t have your records so we have no idea what’s going on, here, sign these 20 forms giving us “PERMISSION” to get your records”.
My permission??? Why would I care if Doctor A gives doctor B my records??? That’s why I’m here and I made this stupid appointment 2 months ago!!!11!11!
“It’s the “law”, we need your permission and that’s why we’re asking you about STDs…”
They asked about STDs at least 5 times. My problem has nothing to do with STDs and they know this. I was at the “Occupational Health” Dept which, it turns out, is mostly there to provide lawyers reasons to sue people and not much else. Still have no idea wtf STDs have to do with that.
Yeah but….since I had to get a REFERRAL just to come here, shouldn’t my records, you know, get automatically sent…etc?
“No, the LAW says we have to get your “permission” first”.
2nd appointment (and co-pay) “Well, we still don’t have your records, sit here for 2 hours while we pretend to call hospital A to get them” (I guess they haven’t heard of email) They didn’t get them.
3rd appointment: (and co-pay) “I have SOME of your records but not MRIs and CAT scans…. Maybe you need some test that only gets done at MGH and your insurance probably won’t pay for but they won’t tell you that until after you get it and you get a bill for $10,000.
Now I have another “referral” to Mass General, so I came right out and asked them if they were going to get my records BEFORE I get there.
“No, you have to do that”. We need your “PERMISSION” to get them ourselves…it’s the L A W.
Yeah, I’m sure the government getting even more involved will really help. But at least they’ll know exactly who has what STD, probably so they can sue people or put them in some new oppressed group who need special laws that apply only to them.
Bottom line, if you get in a car accident and end up at a hospital that doesn’t already have your records, good f’ing luck to you and in 10 years, it won’t be any different because we’re from the government and we’re here to help screw up the simplest things so they never work.
Is having your data lost to hackers really that much worse than giving it to the gov’t in the first place? The only thing for sure is that when(not if) they “lose” it, the person who won’t be able to find it is you.
first, i’m truly sorry that you need to go through this. don’t need this crap on top of whatever is causing you to need MGH.
secondly, you might be able to reduce problems by contacting the office to whom you are referred immediately upon referral. giving them permission before you ever arrive. alternatively, at the time that the referral is made, insist upon the referring doctor sending all pertinent records so that they are already there.
lastly, the info in the records is yours. get copies of your records to hand carry to the appointment if you don’t get better service than you are describing.
if you can’t get copies of the records for yourself, get a lawyer. the doctors are no happier than you are with this crap. it is being forced upon them. but there is wiggle room if it can be found.
good luck with the bureaucracy and if i can help, let me know.
here is the best resolution that i have come up with so far for your bureaucratic nightmare.
the referring physician should be sending all of the info when he makes the referral (and the receiving office should be asking for the info). clearly not doing this and there may be some new reg i don’t know about that requires the receiving doc to initiate a release.
that said, the info is yours. the least amount of frustration on your part is probably the following:
1) when a referral is made, sign a release in your primary care doctor’s offiice and instruct them to send your records to the other doctor. (instruct in writing if they give you any grief)
2) obtain a copy of your records. then keep it updated with each new test result and office visit notes. they won’t like it, probably. the updating after each visit will be a hassle, but it can be done. you own the info.
3) call the office to which you have been referred. if they need to initiate a release, give it over the phone. if that is not acceptable, send it by email or have them send you a release and mail it back to them. or swing by the office if it isn’t too far out of your way.
4) even if the offices get their acts together, you loose little by showing up with your own copies. redundancy is good.
5) if you make attempts to work with them and get no efficient interaction between the offices complain to the clinic or hospital administrators and if that does not result in resolution, file a complaint with the state licensing board. ( i have never seen that to be necessary)
the questions on stds i can’t help you with.
feel free to tell me to butt the hell out. i hate what the bureaucrats have done to my profession
@ jw
Thanks. Just when you think you’ve predicted every stupid thing that can come up, there always seems to be a new one. I was shocked when they said they couldn’t just call the original hospital and get my records, who comes up with this crap? While there is no way I can think of that hospital A giving my records to hospital B without my permission could possibly hurt me, there’s 1001 ways being forced to NOT give them could. Since when is the government who spies on every person in the country so concerned about people’s “privacy”? They want people to THINK they are and this is one of the ways they convince Obama voters that they do. Of all the people on earth, the government are the only ones I don’t want having my medical records and yet, they can probably get them easier than any doctor.
I already called about getting my records and the first thing they said was : You have to come in and get them, we can’t mail them to you. I feel so much better now, knowing that someone won’t be able to steal them from the mail and find out I don’t have any STDs.
the thing to keep in mind is that what was once done to protect your privacy has been twisted into something to protect the hospitals, insurers and make money for the lawyers. release of information used to be restricted so that others couldn’t access your private info. sign a release and you were good to go.
however, lawyers.
i’m surprised that they claim that they can’t get your records from the other hospital, too. i would expect that you would need to sign a release, which would be forwarded and the info returned. this was, in fact, part of the reason that hospitals and clinics have been forced into electronic record keeping (which was part of the reason i retired early).
the hospital not being willing to mail records to you, is to be certain that it gets to you not a spouse or rogue mailman. or lost in the mail. i suspect that you will sign a release when you pick up. i would think that if the doctors office sent the release to have records sent to the office it would happen without difficulty, but might take longer.
again i am sorry that you are going through this. IMO, it is the referring doctor who has messed up. the best that you can do from a practical viewpoint is anticipate that you will need to sign releases at every point. raise the issue yourself early and often. call the office to which you were referred a week or two before the appointment to ascertain that all is there. and if the issue persists, get copies of your records. the photocopy charges will be covered if it saves you one office visit.
best of luck with the paperwork and the health issues.
Hard drive crashes only occur when suspicion of illegal activity arises.
My money is on the hackers.
Put me down for hackers; intent is more likely than RAID 5 failure (and if they don’t have RAID 5, why did we hire them?)
Meanwhile, in the real world, after getting a “referral” to a doctor at a different hospital, my first appointment consisted of doctor from hospital 2 saying “well, we don’t have your records so we have no idea what’s going on, here, sign these 20 forms giving us “PERMISSION” to get your records”.
My permission??? Why would I care if Doctor A gives doctor B my records??? That’s why I’m here and I made this stupid appointment 2 months ago!!!11!11!
“It’s the “law”, we need your permission and that’s why we’re asking you about STDs…”
They asked about STDs at least 5 times. My problem has nothing to do with STDs and they know this. I was at the “Occupational Health” Dept which, it turns out, is mostly there to provide lawyers reasons to sue people and not much else. Still have no idea wtf STDs have to do with that.
Yeah but….since I had to get a REFERRAL just to come here, shouldn’t my records, you know, get automatically sent…etc?
“No, the LAW says we have to get your “permission” first”.
2nd appointment (and co-pay) “Well, we still don’t have your records, sit here for 2 hours while we pretend to call hospital A to get them” (I guess they haven’t heard of email) They didn’t get them.
3rd appointment: (and co-pay) “I have SOME of your records but not MRIs and CAT scans…. Maybe you need some test that only gets done at MGH and your insurance probably won’t pay for but they won’t tell you that until after you get it and you get a bill for $10,000.
Now I have another “referral” to Mass General, so I came right out and asked them if they were going to get my records BEFORE I get there.
“No, you have to do that”. We need your “PERMISSION” to get them ourselves…it’s the L A W.
Yeah, I’m sure the government getting even more involved will really help. But at least they’ll know exactly who has what STD, probably so they can sue people or put them in some new oppressed group who need special laws that apply only to them.
Bottom line, if you get in a car accident and end up at a hospital that doesn’t already have your records, good f’ing luck to you and in 10 years, it won’t be any different because we’re from the government and we’re here to
helpscrew up the simplest things so they never work.Too bad you know the one agency they won’t share with is immigration.
Is having your data lost to hackers really that much worse than giving it to the gov’t in the first place? The only thing for sure is that when(not if) they “lose” it, the person who won’t be able to find it is you.
@4 NO_MO_BAMA
first, i’m truly sorry that you need to go through this. don’t need this crap on top of whatever is causing you to need MGH.
secondly, you might be able to reduce problems by contacting the office to whom you are referred immediately upon referral. giving them permission before you ever arrive. alternatively, at the time that the referral is made, insist upon the referring doctor sending all pertinent records so that they are already there.
lastly, the info in the records is yours. get copies of your records to hand carry to the appointment if you don’t get better service than you are describing.
if you can’t get copies of the records for yourself, get a lawyer. the doctors are no happier than you are with this crap. it is being forced upon them. but there is wiggle room if it can be found.
good luck with the bureaucracy and if i can help, let me know.
No wonder they are telling doctors to ask you if you or anyone in your house owns a firearm.
@4 NO_MO_BAMA
here is the best resolution that i have come up with so far for your bureaucratic nightmare.
the referring physician should be sending all of the info when he makes the referral (and the receiving office should be asking for the info). clearly not doing this and there may be some new reg i don’t know about that requires the receiving doc to initiate a release.
that said, the info is yours. the least amount of frustration on your part is probably the following:
1) when a referral is made, sign a release in your primary care doctor’s offiice and instruct them to send your records to the other doctor. (instruct in writing if they give you any grief)
2) obtain a copy of your records. then keep it updated with each new test result and office visit notes. they won’t like it, probably. the updating after each visit will be a hassle, but it can be done. you own the info.
3) call the office to which you have been referred. if they need to initiate a release, give it over the phone. if that is not acceptable, send it by email or have them send you a release and mail it back to them. or swing by the office if it isn’t too far out of your way.
4) even if the offices get their acts together, you loose little by showing up with your own copies. redundancy is good.
5) if you make attempts to work with them and get no efficient interaction between the offices complain to the clinic or hospital administrators and if that does not result in resolution, file a complaint with the state licensing board. ( i have never seen that to be necessary)
the questions on stds i can’t help you with.
feel free to tell me to butt the hell out. i hate what the bureaucrats have done to my profession
@ jw
Thanks. Just when you think you’ve predicted every stupid thing that can come up, there always seems to be a new one. I was shocked when they said they couldn’t just call the original hospital and get my records, who comes up with this crap? While there is no way I can think of that hospital A giving my records to hospital B without my permission could possibly hurt me, there’s 1001 ways being forced to NOT give them could. Since when is the government who spies on every person in the country so concerned about people’s “privacy”? They want people to THINK they are and this is one of the ways they convince Obama voters that they do. Of all the people on earth, the government are the only ones I don’t want having my medical records and yet, they can probably get them easier than any doctor.
I already called about getting my records and the first thing they said was : You have to come in and get them, we can’t mail them to you. I feel so much better now, knowing that someone won’t be able to steal them from the mail and find out I don’t have any STDs.
@10 NO_MO_BAMA
the thing to keep in mind is that what was once done to protect your privacy has been twisted into something to protect the hospitals, insurers and make money for the lawyers. release of information used to be restricted so that others couldn’t access your private info. sign a release and you were good to go.
however, lawyers.
i’m surprised that they claim that they can’t get your records from the other hospital, too. i would expect that you would need to sign a release, which would be forwarded and the info returned. this was, in fact, part of the reason that hospitals and clinics have been forced into electronic record keeping (which was part of the reason i retired early).
the hospital not being willing to mail records to you, is to be certain that it gets to you not a spouse or rogue mailman. or lost in the mail. i suspect that you will sign a release when you pick up. i would think that if the doctors office sent the release to have records sent to the office it would happen without difficulty, but might take longer.
again i am sorry that you are going through this. IMO, it is the referring doctor who has messed up. the best that you can do from a practical viewpoint is anticipate that you will need to sign releases at every point. raise the issue yourself early and often. call the office to which you were referred a week or two before the appointment to ascertain that all is there. and if the issue persists, get copies of your records. the photocopy charges will be covered if it saves you one office visit.
best of luck with the paperwork and the health issues.