Question:
cant get my medical records from approx.5 yrs. ago
I received medical care approx. 5 yrs. ago from this 1 doctor and was on weight loss meds. and blood pressure meds. w/ him I know I need to have all records of medically supervised weight loss and when I called the drs. office yesterday the recp. said she dont think she has the records from that long ago had she said they throw them away when I asked where do they go if they dont have them in office anymore.So now I dont know what to do anyone have any suggestions that could help me I appreciate it. thank you. KelliannP.S. I live in Florida if that makes any difference. — Kelliann S. (posted on August 27, 2002)
August 27, 2002
I would try calling back, maybe someone was mis-informed. It is against
the law to throw away records, especially only after 5 years. Most places
keep them forever (sometimes on a microfilm reader). Even once a patient
dies it is kept for 20 years (I believe).
Try calling again and don't give up! - I am almost SURE they are there.
((HUGS))
Kristie
— Kristie M.
August 27, 2002
Hi, I'm a paralegal and I know this for certain: each state has its own
law about when medical records can be destroyed. I don't have time to look
it up for you (and cannot give legal advice anyway) but do a search in
Florida for medical records and destruction and some other relevant key
words. For myself, I had something similar except the records I wanted
were 10 years old. No one knew what happened to them! So it was worse!
The doctor had been "disbarred" and then died. His widow had
died as well. Even his probate attorney had no idea where to look. (You
can tell I'm tenacious.) My insurance company accepted an affidavit from
me stating what I had done to locate the records and what I believed the
records would contain. I could have gotten an affidavit from my sister who
treated with this doctor at the same time for weight loss but it wasn't
necessary. Doctors can and do destroy records --- just depends on when
they are allowed to in a particular state.
— Nell C.
August 27, 2002
I believe they are required by law to keep medical records for a certian
amount of time. I work for an out patient radiology company and we keep
records for 7 - 10 years and recent law changes required us to keep
mammography records forever. The woman you talked with may not know these
things. Ask for the medical records clerk or the person who does the
billing, they may be better able to assist you. You can also research in
your state the laws on how long they have to maintain medical records.
— Kristen I.
August 27, 2002
I have a similar situation and I also live in Florida.<p>I saw a
doctor for 6 years and then the doctor sold his practice. His records were
then the property of the new office which moved. I needed a copy of my
records because I'd applied for disability. I tracked the new office down
and was told I could have a copy of the records (if they still had them) at
a cost of $1.00 per page. Turned out they didn't have my chart anyway, it
had been destroyed, so I never had the option really to pay or not. I got
disability anyway despite this setback, thank goodness!
— thumpiez
August 27, 2002
First just let me say, that by law you are required to keep medical records
longer than 5 years. But what I would do is call back and see if the
Physician is willing to write a letter without the records. If they don't
recall who you are can you produce a cancelled check or receipt of payment
for any services you were rendered and see if that will help.
— Jeana S.
August 27, 2002
Has the insurance company asked for your past failed diets? I have Trigon
BCBS of VA and I have only been on 2 supervised weight loss diets. My
surgeon didn't even think this was going to be a problem because of my BMI
and my increasing co-morbs. What I would suggest is going to your dr. and
putting yourself on a supervised diet. I was doing the 1800 calories a day
thing and lost 11 pounds, until... well you know how the story goes.
Anyway, to prove to my insurance company that I had done
"gimic/fad" diets I wrote out a 5 yr. history of failed diet
attempts. What year I started them, how long I was on it, how much weight I
lost, exercise I was doing along with the diets, any side affects... ect. I
stated in my 5 year history how long I've been dieting with no long term
success. I hope this helps you. If you'd like a copy of my diet history I'd
be happy to e-mail it to you.
— Heather B.
August 27, 2002
As I said before, there are laws that govern retention and destruction of
medical records. You need to find those laws and not rely on, "My
sister said they can't do that!" We all need to be very careful when
replying to these posts that we don't start up or perpetuate urband legends
and if we don't have a definitive answer, that we tell people that. Some
people are relying very heavily on what they learn here. Thanks!
— Nell C.
August 27, 2002
I'm not sure that every place is the same,but as a medical records clerk in
a hospital,we are required to keep records for 20 years.After about 10
years,most are stored on some type of disk/microfilm.It can be a pain to
have to look for those older records when you are busy,but that is no
excuse.Don't give up,your records have to be somewhere,they just need to
take the time to find them.Doctors retire/move on all the time,most of the
time your records will be automatically left for the doctor that replaces
them.Your best bet would be to call the medical records dept of that
clinic/office and ask for thier supervisor,they will know where to find
them for sure.Best of luck to you,and hang in there :)
— kim M.
August 27, 2002
thank you all for your help,I called back the doctors office again and the
same lady told me that the girl that takes care of the records is gone for
a couple of days and to call back on friday,and see if she can find
them,but she did again state that she dont think so. That they are probably
thrown away,And I told her how is that possible they should be somewhere
but she just rushed off the phone after taking my name and just kept
replying to call back fri. so thats what i am going to have to do. thanx to
everyone for your support.
— Kelliann S.
August 28, 2002
I worked in medical records at a primary care physicians office for 3 1/2
years. we kept them on file for 2 years after the pts last office visit and
then they went to a records retention facility for an additional 7 years. I
was told by my practice we were able to have them destroyed legally at this
time. I live in florida if this helps.
— Becky O.
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