Alessandra Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 And just like Equifax, how vulnerable are our medical records to being hacked en masse? Oh, no, hadn't thought of this. I don't know about "own" but I am entitled to all my medical records if I ask for them. Jean, whom do you ask? Is there some kind of form to ask for? (I hate to do this stuff online.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 Oh, no, hadn't thought of this. Jean, whom do you ask? Is there some kind of form to ask for? (I hate to do this stuff online.) I call and ask the receptionist. There is a release form. Some places will ask for a copying fee depending on how many records you want. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 This thread raised a question in my mind. Who owns your medical data? Are you entitled to get a copy of it to review? Is medical data stored in some kind of universal clearinghouse, or is it stored with whatever random insurance companies you have used? My understanding is that Equifax et al owns my financial data, but at least I have a right to see what is on there. I have read stories of lawsuits regarding car accidents. The opposing insurance company gets your data in an attempt to discredit you somehow. And I dimly recall a case in Los Angeles in which psych notes for a patient were available when a hospital needed medical records. My memory is a bit hazy, but I think a member of staff stole the info, because the patient was a minor celebrity. Related link to show that I am not delusional, lol. http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/12/10/458939656/celebrities-medical-records-tempt-hospital-workers-to-snoop Technically, you own your medical record. That's why you have to sign for every single person to get a copy of it (including another doctor if you are, for example, changing doctors or going to a specialist). You are always entitled to a copy of your medical record. Generally, you call your doctor's office or the hospital where you were treated and ask for a copy. What they have may not be complete. They only have access to whichever ones you've given them access to. Like I don't have my medical record from when I was a teenager and wouldn't even know how to get it today (that doctor died). When we switched my daughter to a different doctor recently, we signed release forms for all her current doctors and most recent PCP, but it occurs to me that that PCP doesn't have her record from the doctor she saw when we first moved here (and I quickly ditched when he said her problems were "all in her head"). We have digital medical records now which have plusses and minuses, but no one who you have not authorized to see them can see them. It's kind of complicated. Lawsuits are a different animal. They can subpoena whatever they want provided it relates at least tangentially to the lawsuit and you don't have a choice in that. An emergency psych situation can also be different (though it may have to go through a court order, too, come to think of it). Stolen info of a celebrity is just plain illegal. Stolen info of anyone is illegal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 My personal opinion is that all this doctor suspicion is unwarranted. FWIW, and speaking for myself, I'm not suspicious or upset at doctors. It's the system I don't particularly care for - the system that insists everything stay on a record and travel with a person and the system that keeps doctors so busy they don't have time to do anything more than react quickly to what they see. Doctors aren't responsible for the system. When they read the conclusion other doctors have come up with and accept that as a starting point or filled in history (esp given their time constraints) it pretty much means they're human. Then add to it something outside the box that they probably have never seen before and it all adds up to "yeah, I get it." Doesn't mean I have to like it, but I certainly don't hold it against the doctors. I think doctors do their best to help people out - with one exception I've seen. That would be my mom's primary care doctor who continued to insist her issues were all stress even after being questioned by his own nurses and others in the medical field. He almost let her die with his insistence that he was correct and all of her symptoms were imaginary (or made up in her mind). If he hadn't relented and let her get a blood test for lyme (she was grasping at straws by that point) and "accidentally" found out her hemoglobin level was at 6 (meaning she was bleeding to death) she wouldn't be here today - most likely passing out at her house as she lost even more. She could barely walk or stay focused and he sent her home telling her to try to relax. :cursing: I blame it on his bullheadedness. But he's an anomaly in my experience. (There may be others like him, but I haven't met them thankfully.) Any issues that come up with others are pretty much because they're human and have to work within the system. To anyone concerned about telling doctors things regarding future insurance issues. I fully understand considering there's no assurance what's going to happen with insurance in the future. That's a gamble. That part doesn't affect us though - or isn't likely to anyway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 FWIW, and speaking for myself, I'm not suspicious or upset at doctors. It's the system I don't particularly care for - the system that insists everything stay on a record and travel with a person and the system that keeps doctors so busy they don't have time to do anything more than react quickly to what they see. Doctors aren't responsible for the system. When they read the conclusion other doctors have come up with and accept that as a starting point or filled in history (esp given their time constraints) it pretty much means they're human. Then add to it something outside the box that they probably have never seen before and it all adds up to "yeah, I get it." Doesn't mean I have to like it, but I certainly don't hold it against the doctors. I think doctors do their best to help people out - with one exception I've seen. That would be my mom's primary care doctor who continued to insist her issues were all stress even after being questioned by his own nurses and others in the medical field. He almost let her die with his insistence that he was correct and all of her symptoms were imaginary (or made up in her mind). If he hadn't relented and let her get a blood test for lyme (she was grasping at straws by that point) and "accidentally" found out her hemoglobin level was at 6 (meaning she was bleeding to death) she wouldn't be here today - most likely passing out at her house as she lost even more. She could barely walk or stay focused and he sent her home telling her to try to relax. :cursing: I blame it on his bullheadedness. But he's an anomaly in my experience. (There may be others like him, but I haven't met them thankfully.) Any issues that come up with others are pretty much because they're human and have to work within the system. To anyone concerned about telling doctors things regarding future insurance issues. I fully understand considering there's no assurance what's going to happen with insurance in the future. That's a gamble. That part doesn't affect us though - or isn't likely to anyway. In today’s world it is imperative that people learn how to advocate for themselves and their loved ones when it comes to medical care. Actually it’s probably not just in today’s world but in today’s world we are allowed to question doctors. There are lots of resources out there online and in print on how to do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 In today’s world it is imperative that people learn how to advocate for themselves and their loved ones when it comes to medical care. Actually it’s probably not just in today’s world but in today’s world we are allowed to question doctors. There are lots of resources out there online and in print on how to do this. Of course we're allowed to question them. Practically everyone I know has questioned them at some point or another if anything has actually gone wrong in their lives. It doesn't mean they have to listen though - and they get to call the shots (another fact of our system). Someone can refuse a particular treatment or test or whatever, but not order anything (aside from some blood tests) themselves, so if a doctor (or two) says something can't be a problem, well then, it can't be. No test needed. It's all stress anyway. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 During my last pregnancy, I gave a urine sample at every visit, like normal. One day, I got a bill in the mail from a lab in another state for a $2400 drug test that was never mentioned to me. They had sent my urine to that lab, which was out of network for my insurance. All other blood and urine tests had been done at local labs that were in network. No one asked me if this other lab was OK. They didn't even tell me they were sending off my urine to be tested! I think they do this test secretly because of the state laws about pregnant women and drugs (OBs are to report to the state of a woman tests positive for drugs, then she gets thrown in jail... And yes, there are women who have been jailed for false positives). So first of all... $2400 to test urine for drugs? Seriously? And second of all, why should I have to pay for a test that I didn't even know they were doing? And to send it to another state when there are labs locally that are more likely to be in network? Needless to say, I'm not going back to that OB. We ended up whittling it down to about $200, but that's still too much for a test that was done without my knowledge. It SHOULD be illegal to do a $2400 test without the patient's knowledge. Most people don't have that kind of money laying around. :p 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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