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But - and I might be wrong - your medical history is something about which you have an absolute right to privacy, in the US. You can start with a new primary care doc and not transfer your records. Am I missing something?
When you were a minor, you wouldn't have been able to separate from those records - but now, you can. Right?
I've switched doctors at least three times trying to get away from this history. The problem is all the hospitals around here are connected via internet chart so I basically don't have an option. My insurance is medicaid so I have to go where they tell me to go I don't have a choice to go to a private practice. So when I get a new doctor they immediately look me up through the system, or even through my insurance and there is my chart. Anywhere I go I have this history. I have tried to get it erased but no one cares. They all just think I'm a liar or something.
Also the past 4 nights I've gotten "8 hours" or at least it SEEMS like I have, go to bed and am not "awake" consciously until 8 hours have passed and yet I'm still VERY TIRED so even with the help of sleeping pills something isn't right. I finally got in for a sleep study but that won't happen until January and I keep having nightmares almost every night. I can't stand this any more to be honest.
Not only do you have to voluntarily provide your health history to new doctors, but you have to sign several waivers (HIPPA being a big chunk of them) specifically allowing your old chart to follow you.
Yes, it means getting a new doctor, but that's all there is to it, usually. Get a new GP & start fresh.
I've switched doctors at least three times trying to get away from this history. The problem is all the hospitals around here are connected via internet chart so I basically don't have an option.
Yes, you do, by law. It will be faster to do so in person, but you go to Admin & revoke all of your consent to share information forms. I've worked in admin, seen this happen many many many times. It's a pain in the ass from an admin point of view, because there are about 10 million boxes to tick and forms to put a big dang VOID stamp on, but when a patient wants to revoke consent? That's all they have to say. I'm not even allowed to question why, although I was very much allowed to question what / as many patients just want a specific doctor or practice or hospital excluded, & not the whole kit & kaboodle. Asking what helps clarify what they're wanting so you can do that.
While not allowed to ask why, many patients tell you, anyway... Mostly out of nerves / you can tell the afraid to ask / think they have to justify their reasons or I could tell them no, or something. (I have zero right to say no.). Common reasons given were
- divorce (when a spouse is listed as an 'okay to share info with' on even one form, it can create a nightmare, if that's the form that pops up on the screen when the spouse calls or comes in... Easier to just void everything, and resign new consents).
- legal issues (their lawyer had advised to them to revoke consent, most brought the email or letter from their attorney saying to do this, although we didn't need it).
- seriously pissed off at 1 or more docs (and will read you chapter and verse & how much they suck)
- they're attorneys & know their rights (<grin> They almost alwaysmcomeminnsaying, "I'm so & so, attorney at BigName, WeirdName, & SeriousName... And I need to revoke my consents)
- Identity Theft (most usually people who've woken up one morning to find a 25k surgery bill on their credit report, or have found "wrong" records in their records... Revoking consent is just one step of many for these poor people).
My insurance is medicaid so I have to go where they tell me to go I don't have a choice to go to a private practice. So when I get a new doctor they immediately look me up through the system,
They can only do this when there are open consents on file. Otherwise they get a blank screen, at which point the med admin either digs out your new patient paperwork for your new consents to treatment & sharing information that you've signed and updates the system, or asks you to fill them out. While you can -legally- just tell them no... It's far easier to explain you've been the victim of medical fraud/ identity theft (what your parents did, but saying the fraud bit is enough ) & your chart is all mixed up (which takes months to years to fix) and would really like to keep things simple and start fresh. It helps to make a joke here about either a vasectomy if you're female, or breast enlargement if male! Med Pros are ***terrified*** of mixed up / incorrect charts. That's where a large percentage of medical malpractice suits come from. Charts and names and birthdays are checked constantly for making sure everything matches. In Surgical PreAdmit, we had 3 patients with the same name, the same week, and more than 20 charts between them of "Duplicate Name", sent up by records & one of the volunteers was putting forms in all of them. :eek: It was a nightmare. Every page, of every chart, had to be gone through by 3 people, just to make sure that 80yo Man & 7yoGirl were never, never, never mixed up. And that was just one surgery. When charts get f*cked? Oy vey. Visions of lawsuits, and jail time (HIPPA violations, malpractice, serious shit), and lost jobs circle every admin/nurse/doctors heads like stars.
Anyone who has been on the job for more than 20 minutes WILL suspect drug seeking &/or fraud on your part (non-payment)... Since drug seekers & fraudsters (no-pay / fake names/ etc.) are very well versed in how to remain unidentified for as long as possible... And the above is one very common way. So they'll check with billing (perfectly legal, to make sure you don't owe), and be very stingy with medication until they either have a history with you, or you sign consent to communicate with your psychiatrist, and he/she sends relevant info from your chart with them (unless you specify otherwise).
So where exactly do I go @FridayJones? Like is there a place in one hospital I can go to? Cause they all have access to the charts. For instance if I go to clinic X, clinic y and z show up via Internet medical chart. So do I go to one hospital? Do I do this myself? I mean I'll do it if I have specifics but I looked into it, not a ton, and I couldn't find any actual way to estate a medical history or hide it and I'm pretty good at this. If you tell me where to go specifically I'll get it taken care of.
Yeah b12 was checked and was fine my vitamin d is awful I struggle to keep that up but it seems like when I take the supplement every day I am MORE tired than usual so I put off taking it even though I probably shouldn't. But I noticed this because for a week I took it and I could barely get ou t of bed. Then I tried not taking it for a week and I had far more energy.
I can completely relate. I even went as far as getting a sleep study done and Dr's confirmed I have organic hypersomnia and should not drive cuz I could fall asleep and die. Their educated treatment... A shrugging of shoulders. I don't get rem sleep unless I sleep more than 12 hours. However, I NEVER EVER EVER WAKE UP FEELING REFRESHED! The only way I get up or get anything done is by taking Ritalin or getting a buzz. Have had tons of blood work, all normal. I can sleep for 24 hours or more at a time. Once slept for a week. Going to rehab for treatment of chronic ptsd and they're weaning me off of all psych meds. I've gotta be up at 7:30am everyday without Ritalin..... I'm really hoping the meds are to blame. If not, then what? I've had this problem since as long as I can remember. I used to get yelled at by my brothers teacher in 3rd grade for making everyone late cuz I couldn't wake up on time. Every job, tardiness is an issue, prevents promotions, thankfully I do the work of 3 when I do get there. If u ever find a Dr that can give u answers, please let me know.
Administration. They may send you to medical records, or another department, but whomever they send you to will be the person whose job it is to do this. The information desk, or greeter, should be able to give you directions. They usually stick admin off somewhere weird, in an area they don't keep "pretty" for patients; the basement, some annex east of Egypt, etc., although occasionally we get nice new digs on the top floor somewhere? Usually we're well off the beaten path about as far away from the parking lot &/or coffee and they can find ;)
You'll need to do it at each hospital, as they all keep their own consents on file.
Bring ID. You may not need it / be able to verify who you are based off of name/bday/SSN/etc., but it will save you a trip to have photo ID on you.
@FridayJones has been pretty clear, but I'll add (if it helps):
You won't be able to erase or hide what is currently in your files at whatever places you have gone to. What you can do is:
Stop those various offices from exchanging any more information
Start fresh with a new PCP who will not have access to any of that information (because you will have revoked the privileges).
So, you make a list of the doctors you have seen and the offices you've seen them at. You go to each one - unfortunately, there isn't any other way to do it - and you tell an administrator that you would like to make your file private, not to be shared with any other provider. You'll have to sign a form - probably the one where you specifically give permission to no-one, as opposed to giving permission to other service providers.
It should take effect immediately.
The next doctor you see - one who you have never been to before - will ask if they can have access to your records. Often, this form is one of a number of forms you sign before you see the doctor for the first time. Keep an eye out for it, and do not grant permission.
I don't know if it helps much, but I can say in my time I have had tests for nearly everything, from heart conditions to cancer to chronic fatigue to asthma. I have been through huge periods of being soooo exhausted and I too was not depressed at these times. What I do feel a lot of, as all of us with PTSD undoubtedly do, is stress. For me, all my illnesses, all of my fatigue pretty much comes back to that. No matter how serious the symptom, no matter whether I am so exhausted I can barely lift my head - it's always stress. I find that my exhaustion and fatigue is especially bad after I have been triggered and then remain highly stressed for a long while - maybe a week, maybe two. Then when I finally resolve that stress, I fall in a heap. And why wouldn't I? Essentially, my body has been in fight or flight mode 24 hours a day for weeks.
It might not be the case with you, but in my experience stress is the nasty demon that lies behind so many ailments. So much so that my husband and I now have a recurring joke surrounding it...
I'll sneeze, and he'll say, "Stress??" Lol.
