[MovingMomma]

I'm trying to get the medical records from my daughter's birth, and I am getting a bit of a run-around. I got all the records from my pregnancy from the OB, along w/a short summary of the birth. But no EFM tape, which I asked for specifically (during the birth, the sOB said there were problems w/baby & justified a vacuum extraction...I want to know if there really were problems...dd APGARed 9 & 10). I asked at the hospital about a year ago, and they said they don't keep the records, they go to the Dr's office (is that BS?). I went back to the OB after realizing the EFM tape wasn't in there & asked for it specifically. The gal hemmed & hawed & said it'd be in storage & she'd "get back to me," which I don't think she will. So I'm sending a letter certified mail, but I also want to know if I'm barking up the wrong tree. I'm thinking both the OB & the hospital should have it, but I really don't know about these things.

Anybody know?

 

[ibahippiemama]

So umm, I think someone is jerking you around. They both should have a copy of the medical records. You might want to get a lawyer involved because this is raising red flags for me. All patients have the right to have a copy of their whole record. hope things work out for you soon.

love and blessings
angie

 

[Luminosea]

Does your baby's ped have the EFM tape?

 

[Hayes]

YOu need to call LAbor and Delivery. REcords for birth are kept seperately from OB records.

 

[stafl]

there are laws protecting your right to those records. Find out what the law is (why can't I remember it? something like heppa I think it is) and arm yourself with that info first. Then go in and fight them tooth and nail until you get what you are entitled, before they get scared and destroy your records because you've been nosing around. (yes, I had a doc destroy my records because he was covering his own butt, but it was not birth-related)

 

[KarenEMT]

Call the hospital and ask to speak to the Medical Records Department. Then ask the procedure for obtaining your records - they are required by law to give you access to your chart. There will probably be a copying fee, but you are entitled to those records. Be Persistent!

If they give you any further runaround, can you have an attorney write a letter and request the records? That will definitely get their attention LOL!

Good Luck!

 

[chiro_kristin]

Yes, HIPAA laws protect you. Go in there and follow PPs' suggestions, and do it sooner than later. I would personally give the records dept a written letter from you stating you expect to receive the letters in a certain specific amount of time (I'm thinking five business days - this is totally reasonable). Maybe even, in your letter, tell them you will get a lawyer involved if this doesn't happen. Tell them you feel you are getting the run-around and that you are tired of people sending you on a goose chase for your records. Be firm but respectful and polite. Write down the names of everybody you talk to regarding this and when you talked to them and what about, including the ones who don't give you any information. Document everything.

If you don't get them in that time frame then have a lawyer all ready to write the letter. Give them specific, reasonable but short amounts of time, so they don't run you around any longer and they have less time to CTA.

 

[littlecityfarmer]

As the OP said, you have a right under HIPPA to obtain a copy of your medical records for a "reasonable fee," which, in NY, is $.75/page. A reasonable time might be more like 10 business days, which gives the clinic time to locate, copy, and mail the records. Find out the name of the Medical Records or Health Information Management Dept's director, and if they have a dedicated Release of Information employee, and direct the letter to the MR director...

OB records are probably kept seperately from your medical chart, but I can't imagine the EFM tape getting too far away from either chart, though it my have found its way into your baby's chart if the hospital is anything like the health center I work for...

Good luck!

 

[orangebird]

Have you spoken to medical records dept at the hospital? That is where I imagine they would be. They would know nothing specifically about you labor to want to be jerking you around.

Do they always make a paper record of the EFM tape for the charts anyway? Just curious. Ours are computerized, you can make a strip, but I don't knwo if they always do. Have no idea.

 

[MovingMomma]

Thanks, ladies! I am going to try the hospital again, and make sure I get the medical records dept. And may try the ped at the same time (never would have thought of that: thanks Luminosea!). mara, I have no idea if they usually make a paper strip or not, but since I watched it printing out, it's got to be around somewhere!

 

[rareimer]

i'm also having problems with this...i requested my records about FIVE months ago, and they still haven't arrived. my midwife has even phoned them, and still nothing. kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it?

 

[Baby Hopes]

FWIW my doc, while he was cutting, told me he was doing an episiotomy. Something I had stated and in writing I only wanted done in an emergency situation and then only after consulting me first. (Umm... how am I supposed to STOP you if you are cutting as you ask?)

After DD's birth he mentioned that he didn't have time to ask, that my daughter was experiencing heart decels and that it was an emergency. At apgars of 10 and 10 I have to wonder. (Doctor also got up on my stomach and PUSHED with his elbow to move her out. But that's another post.

)

Point is, after recieving my records from the birth NOTHING was mentioned about there being an emergency situation warranting an episiotomy. Sure, he had down that one was administered... after recieving permission.

: But nothing to substantiate the need for one.

I know that an episiotomy is not the same as a vacume... I guess, I am just hoping you get answers to your questions.

Stay persistant.

 

[mwherbs]

so the hospital stores the records that would involve the birth- because their personnel are liable-- the dragging their feet has to do with #1 extra work in an already overly busy, understaffed place #2 fear that if they hand it over quickly without someone reviewing it there will be mistakes passed on to you that they could have corrected and saved themselves a suit #3 probably in less than a year they have shipped it off to storage so there is some search and request stuff that has to go on.

 

[member234098]

I strongly suggest that you get a lawyer to assist you in this matter at this point in time. It has been almost two years.

Apparently your own requests carry no weight with them.

FYI, the doctor and hospital have liability for your daughter's birth until she is nineteen. You can sue until she is eighteen and she has an additional year in which she can sue for damages.

Good Luck. Do not back down. You have an absolute right to your records. You should have left the hospital with them in August 2003.

 

[orangebird]

Quote:

(Doctor also got up on my stomach and PUSHED with his elbow to move her out. But that's another post. )

Ick. I had three nurses on top of me pushing my first DS out.

I am so upset I didn't request my records earlier. DS is 12 and when I called medical records they said they onlt keep records 7 years and then destroy them