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Our So-Called Right to Medical Records -- cost me $35 to get some copies
As folks who have read my posts probably know by now, nothing gets me quite as worked up as how the medical industry handles HIPPA, patient privacy and our medical records. Now to add insult to injury I was asked to cough up $35 by my wife's OB to get a copy of her medical records so that she could go to another doctor. I really had no choice. If I refused, then her new doctor would have sub-optimal information about her, and have to run the tests she's already had all over again, and our little unborn baby might face obstacles he/she doesn't need to face. So I swallowed my pride, and my anger, and forked over the $35 to have the privilege of getting a copy of my wife's own medical records handed to her in person at the doctor's office. Does this strike anyone else as borderline criminal?
end rant.
end rant.
Views: 442
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on
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Mike, unleash the the lawyer in you. Be a shark go get them. That is not right! The paperwork belongs to the patient. It should be scanned on a card so that we can get it and take whenever wherever we want.
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Permalink Reply by Judy on
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Don't work that way, Rock Hinkle. The LAW allows them to charge "a reasonable fee" and most of the various state laws specifiy what can be charged. Michigan allows them to charge $20 PER REQUEST. And $1 per page for the first 20 pages, etc, etc.
http://www.lamblawoffice.com/medical-records-copying-charges.html">
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Permalink Reply by Mike on
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Judy's right that as a technical legal matter, federal law allows the doctor to charge a "reasonable fee," and then states have their own determinations as to what constitutes a "reasonable fee." California, where I am, says "pursuant to Health & Safety Code section 123110, a doctor can charge 25 cents per page plus a reasonable clerical fee." (http://www.medbd.ca.gov/consumer/complaint_info_questions_records.h...) That said, $35?! I had like 50 pages. I guess the rest was their "clerical fee."
The law might permit this, but the law is DEAD wrong and needs to be changed in this area. What pisses me off is that if you ask the medical community why they can't email things and make records electronic, they'll cite Patient Privacy. But at the end of the day, it's all just a cover up for laziness, inefficiency, profiteering and incompetence.
Judy said:Don't work that way, Rock Hinkle. The LAW allows them to charge "a reasonable fee" and most of the various state laws specifiy what can be charged. Michigan allows them to charge $20 PER REQUEST. And $1 per page for the first 20 pages, etc, etc.
http://www.lamblawoffice.com/medical-records-copying-charges.html">
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Permalink Reply by Dan Lyons on
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This just shows how strong the medical community legislative lobby is in this country. The fee structure is so far outdated in this technological age.
I am a firm believer that a strong patient lobby effort could force these fees to disappear or at the least, be brought into line with the technology.
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The medical profession has long used "Patient Privacy" to protect our medical records from US!!! Mostly as a "CYA" so we wouldn't have any proof of their indifferent care.
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Exactly. Maybe this could be our slogan: "Patient Privacy = CYA" I think the equation is truly that simple. After all, let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say they truly do care about Patient Privacy (yeah right ;0 ) Then why can't I on an individual basis as a patient say to hell with my privacy, and "Opt Out" of their a$s backward system of protecting me from myself?
Judy said:The medical profession has long used "Patient Privacy" to protect our medical records from US!!! Mostly as a "CYA" so we wouldn't have any proof of their indifferent care.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel on
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For me, the sad thing about this thread is that if the new doctor had requested copies of the file (and had a signed release from your wife that it was OK), the old doctor would have charged nothing at all for the copies.
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You're right, Daniel, that is the way it USUALLY works. Sometimes tho, it doesn't for one reason or another. Mike and his wife tried that route:
Mike said:
We in fact had asked that it be forwarded directly to the other doctor. It was only after they screwed that up and it slipped through the cracks and we got blank stares did we insist on getting our own copies. As i always was taught, if you can't get it done right by someone else, do it yourself.
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