"Two years ago my husband and I went to Dr. Maynard's office to meet him and start the process toward our weight loss goals. At the time his office staff seemed very nice and willing to help (NOT NOW more in a min.) Both my husband and I decided to wait a little while before continuing on the journey because Dr. Maynard was not doing surgery laprascopical yet (not sure if he is now.) Also, I had a very young child and wanted to wait longer to recover from having him by c-section before going through with another more serious operation.
Now to the best part... on Aug. 18th 2010 I called and spoke with the receptionist to request a copy of the forms we filled out to become patients. (We have since moved away from his area and now live over a hour and a half away and that is without traffic.) The receptionist told me she could not understand what it was that I was asking for. I told her I did not know any other way to explain it other than to again say that I wanted a copy of the paper work that I filled out to become a patient. She told me that she would give the information to the office manager.
Because of the receptionists lack of understanding, I decided to call the office again today to speak with the manager. Donna Edwards, the office manager, answered the phone and I proceeded to make the same request. She also told me she could not understand what I was asking for. I said I had to download paper work and fill it out to become a patient. I turned in that paper work at my first visit. I need a copy of that paper work, please.
Mrs. Edwards told me that the paper work belong to the medical practice and that I could NOT have it! I explained that it was paper work that I GAVE THEM and all I wanted was a copy. She told me "NO" that I was not entitled to it and that Dr. Maynard was out of the country on vacation.
So... what does Dr. Maynard being out of the country have to do with getting a copy? Mrs. Edwars then went on to tell me again that I would not get a copy! I told her that was fine and that I would be contacting the Composite State Board of Medical Examiners for GA. She said, "That will be great!" and hung up on me.
Well just to let everyone know by law you are allowed to have a copy of your medical records if you request them in writing. (I was going to fax a request once I had procured that the copies would be sent.) Although the law allows for a copy of your records, the doctors office is allowed to charge certain reasonable fees for them and that amount is set forth in great detail at http://sos.georgia.gov/plb/GEORGIA%20PATIENT%20RECORDS%20LAWS.pdf
I was more than willing to pay for the records but we never got to that point since I was told I could not have them.
With all of this being said I pray that Dr. Maynard finds out how his staff has acted in his absence. However, in the meantime I have made a formal complaint with the Composite State Board of Medical Examiners for GA and U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. This is a breach of HIPAA laws.
At this point I CANNOT in good faith make a recommendation to anyone to use the services of Dr. Maynard. Care is not only in the hands of the doctor but also in his staffs hands. If the staff cannot preform the duties in an educated manner then you risk the chance of Dr. Maynard getting incorrect information from them that could in-turn cost a patient dearly.
I wish everyone the best and this is just one persons opinion (mine)and outcome(for me.) I know many people have had WONDERFUL outcomes and some of them are my friends, that is why we decided on Dr. Maynard.
I was requesting the paper work because of the tremendous distance. We (me and my husband) decided to find a doctor with equal or better credentials to do our surgery. I wanted a copy of my paper work so I would not have to go through trying to locate all of the information needed again. It was very time consuming and we have had to move many times over the last 10 years because of my husband job. It was worth paying the money to get a copy from the doctors office as opposed to quantity of time to try to go through every move and change."
