I am SOOO ANGRY!!!
My children's medical records are lost! My daughter has been seeing the same Dr. for her whole life. My son started seeing that Dr. when he was 5 months old. They have lost their entire file. Does anyone know if there's anything I can do about this? (Besides being mad) I have been in touch with everyone at the office, including the office manager & at the business office for the Dr.'s practice. They have been missing since October, when they were sent to the business office for an insurance audit. My youngest daughter is the only one whose records came back to the Dr. office.
Aren't these records protected by federal law now?
We moved out of state & I had one Dr. offie that would not see my children without their medical records.

By Lauram on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 05:57 pm:

I don't know about the whole medical record, but mine were "lost but now they are found" and in that time I learned you can have a titer to see if you have had either measles or a measles shot (can't tell which one but that doesn't matter) and I think ruebella is in that category as well. Don't know about the other shots, but it's worth asking! I think you can also file them electronically somehow. I remember seeing something about that when one of my kids was born (but I was in such a fog- I have no idea which one, how you do it, or if it was just our state.) Good luck!

By Emily7 on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 06:14 pm:

I would be p***sed. I know things happen, but don't they need a shot record to get into school?

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 06:25 pm:

The records are not protected by federal law - the privacy of the records is protected, more or less.

Nonetheless, your doctor's office ought to be able to reconstruct at least immunizations from billing records.

I would stop communicating by telephone and send a letter, certified mail to have proof they receive it. Demand either a copy of your children's medical records immediately or an explanation in writing as to exactly why they cannot produce them. If they cannot produce them, demand that they reconstruct as much as they can from the billing records in terms of immunizations, etc.

I agree, this is appalling and has implications for your children's health care. It is inexcusable.

One of the lessons here is that when you plan to move, either to a different doctor or a different town, go to the doctor's office yourself and get a copy to take with you. This is, I believe, what the military does when people are transferred to a different base, and it seems there are good reasons for this.

By Lauram on Thursday, July 15, 2004 - 01:38 pm:

After I posted, I just found out that one of my booster shots is lost. I have to go have a titer anyhow. I have had 3 MMR, one the day before my first b-day, the next in 1978 because the first one didn't count because it was one day too early, then one in college (the one which is MIA). The university nurse told me to go have another shot. I'm not comfortable with that. That would be 4! My dr is having me have the titer first to see if I need it.