They lost my sleep study!! What a comedy of errors!!

[ZPAP]

You can't make this stuff up--

I had my first sleep study and titration in 1997. I was given a CPAP machine which I've used on and off (I know, bad idea!!) ever since.

Recently, due to problems with sleep I went back to the doctor and he prescribed a new titration, with a resultant pressure of 9 cms H2O.

Unfortunately, NO ONE, not the hospital, the physician, the sleep company that ran the program at the hospital or the DME that provided the machine has a copy of the original sleep study that documented OSA!! Can you believe it?

The hospital sleep center is willing to do a new study for free, but that doesn't solve the problem, because my current carrier will only pay for a machine after one rents one for 12 months, so that prevents me from buying online (and saving both of us money!)

I should have insisted on a copy of my study back then. Now, I know a lot more and would handle it differently.

Michael

[kteague]

Interesting, and hard to believe it could happen at so many levels. I was surprised that medical records at my HMO had copies of mine from 1998 and they weren't even performed there. Guess I shouldn't complain that it took several days and $25 to get a copy of my file for disability when it ended up being a ream of paper. You're right, it's a timely reminder to maintain one's own medical files. You just never know when that "black hole" will suck your records to the vast nowhere.
Kathy

[frum]

You can't make this stuff up--

I had my first sleep study and titration in 1997. I was given a CPAP machine which I've used on and off (I know, bad idea!!) ever since.

Recently, due to problems with sleep I went back to the doctor and he prescribed a new titration, with a resultant pressure of 9 cms H2O.

Unfortunately, NO ONE, not the hospital, the physician, the sleep company that ran the program at the hospital or the DME that provided the machine has a copy of the original sleep study that documented OSA!! Can you believe it?

The hospital sleep center is willing to do a new study for free, but that doesn't solve the problem, because my current carrier will only pay for a machine after one rents one for 12 months, so that prevents me from buying online (and saving both of us money!)

I should have insisted on a copy of my study back then. Now, I know a lot more and would handle it differently.

Michael

Well it is 1997. I do not know how long they are required to keep a study. I would doubt near 10 years.

Im kind of suprised you thought they would have a copy of it 10 years later? I mean from a storage and documentation standpoint where are they suppose to keep this for every customer that comes through? If we think out requested services are expensive now wait until there's a 10 year requirement to hold onto the sleep study of everyone they see. 7 days a week, 360'ish days a year x 10 years. yeah... thats probably not going to happen.

Hippa requirement may be 1 year onsite and 3 offsite. I could check into this if you would like

[3isles]

My daughter is 14 and her docs and hospital still have the records of her hospital stay after birth, including eeg, xrays, ct scans etc. I don't think there is an expiry date on medical records.

[Slinky]

In 1999 when I went to Mayo Clinic our local hospital STILL had my SBFT xrays from 1978!!! Unfortunately, I was foolish enough to return them to the hospital and they were then destroyed. I'm not sure what the "holding" time is but evidently unless they have reason to return to your personal "film library" at the hospital they don't go thru them. I hadn't had any radiology procedures during that 20+ years. But when the time comes that you have another radiology procedure and they have reason to go thru your "film library" they then destroy those films past a certain time period. I believe, in talking w/one of the radiology department receptionists, that that is now 4 years. Our local hospital has just recently finished going to all digital radiology and they've systematically gone thru all "personal" film files and digitalized those 4 years old or younger and destroyed those older than 4 years.

[ZPAP]

Well, thanks to my internist, I finally found a copy. As a hospital attorney, I understand that one can't keep records forever. However, given the fact that in order to be reimbursed for DME expenditures patients are required to prove their diagnosis, it would seem that before destroying the records, sleep centers should provide a copy of the initial diagnostic study to the patient.

In my case, I was covered by a different carrier in 1997, and haven't purchased any CPAP DME since then (call me stupid, I didn't know that you were supposed to replace masks and hoses, and my DME supplier didn't bother to tell me). My new carrier has no idea that I have OSA and won't pay for anything without a diagnostic study.

Of course, this situation highlights one of the problems with this entire area of medical care -- it's not patient-centric. Patients are treated like infants who can't understand their condition or its treatment, and can't be trusted with even the most rudimentary knowledge about their equipment, lest someone's monopoly be endangered.

BTW, I called my original DME provider and they quoted me $1500 for the cost of a new REMStar Auto C-Flex with humidifer. When I pointed out that I could buy it for less than one-half that price at lots of other places, they had to nerve to refer to the service they provide. It was fun to point out to them that I hadn't heard from them in almost nine years, much less received any service.

Now that I have a new pressure setting, I'm also going to enjoy getting them to reset my old machine w/o getting compensated for it.

Michael

[Slinky]

I "like" your attitude, ZPAP. Give'em 'ell, 'arry!

[Guest]

Another possible source for "lost" medical records is the insurance company clearinghouse. I can not recall the name of this outfit, but when/if you apply for life insurance (maybe other types as well) and they request medical records from all of your doctors, it apparently is all sent to this clearinghouse. Not sure how long or if they retain records, but with insurance companies, I imagine they keep them forever, so they can deny you at some point when you forget you even went to Dr. Doe for whatever visit and forgot to mention it on you application (sorry, had some dealings with insurance companies in the past)

[birdshell]

My medical records have an uncanny way of being fuel for fires. My hospital for my childhood hand surgery (which was pretty unique), my earliest tests for my other genetic conditions, my podiatrist, and one of my physicians have ALL had their records burned. They were mostly of use in determining if my surgeries or procedures had shown any tendencies for bleeding, and so were medically important.

This is even more reason to get records of your medical procedures and to keep those letters from doctors summarizing their treatments or interpretation of tests.

One way I have found to get information is to ask my PCP to give me a copy, if I have not already received one. He has never refused me yet.