patients having to pay for their medical records

Canada
February 9, 2007 7:12pm CST
Discuss? Patients say private medical files 'held hostage' Updated Thu. Feb. 8 2007 11:14 PM ET Kathy Tomlinson, CTV News It was bad enough when one of their town's few doctors left to take a new job. But when Dr. Thomas MacKey's patients in Perth, Ontario learned their medical records were also gone -- and they'd have to pay to get copies -- they were outraged. "Our medical records are being, I guess you could say, held hostage," former patient Sandra MacGregor told CTV News. When Dr. MacKey left Perth to take a new job in nearby Smith Falls, he had no other doctor to take over his practice -- a growing problem across the country, brought on by Canada's doctor shortage. MacKey put an ad in the local paper telling his 3,500 patients their records were now with a medical file storage company in suburban Toronto. But when they call the company, patients are told if they want their records photocopied, and sent to them, they will have to pay a fee. The storage company, Green and McQueen, is only five years old, but it's quickly become Canada's largest medical file storage company. It now holds thousands of patient files for more than 500 Canadian doctors from six provinces. Green and McQueen told CTV News they charge patients a maximum of $300 per file for photocopies. "I can't afford it," Perth resident Pauline Wilson said. "I'm a waitress. I don't make a lot of money. That's more than a week's salary for me." MacGregor told us a specialist needs to see her records next month -- but she also can't afford the fee. Green and McQueen quoted her a reduced family rate of 15 per cent off for her and her two grown children. "It's (still) over $700 for myself and my two children to get our medical records, which is outrageous," said MacGregor. Wilson said even her 23-year-old son was told he would have to pay more than $100. "For him especially, $117 is awfully unreasonable for what it would be. (His file) would probably fit in a small envelope," Wilson said. MacGregor added that "I think there's no way it would cost $300 to photocopy the information." Green and McQueen's Director of Operations, Gwen Watts, told CTV News the fees cover more than just photocopying. "It's actually the locating of the records, the copying of the records and the administration cost." Every province in Canada holds doctors responsible for storing their patient's records - for up to 10 years. Legally, the record does not belong to the patient, it belongs to the doctor. That system worked fine when retiring doctors had other doctors to replace them, but it doesn't work that way anymore. Green and McQueen offers retired doctors two years free file storage -- then charges them for storage beyond that time. "The patient says to me, why should I pay?" Watts told CTV News. "Well, who should pay for it? We are a private business." Watts said she would welcome government subsidies to cover the cost she passes on to patients. She also gets a lot of questions about confidentiality, she said -- and stressed the company has very strict rules about who gets to see what in the patient files. "We run an extremely tight ship," Watts said. "It would be detrimental to our business if we had a (privacy) breach." The whole problem of storing paper medical records could be solved, though, if all of Canada's doctors just used computers instead of paper to store their records. Ottawa has tried to make that happen, but so far it hasn't been all that successful. Since 2001, Canadian taxpayers have poured $1 billion into a national plan to convert medical information to electronic formats, called "Canada Health Infoway." Despite that investment, Canada Infoway told CTV News approximately 80 per cent of Canada's physicians are still not keeping records online. The goal is to get 50 per cent of the system computerized by 2010, but according to the province's health ministers, that will take even more money. "We're very hopeful that the federal budget forthcoming will make a greater contribution to Canada Health Infoway, which is at the point where it is pretty much out of capital," George Smitherman, Ontario's Minister of Health, told CTV News. "This is an area where all provinces have worked hard, but it's certainly an area that does call for greater investment in terms of building the electronic health record capacity," Smitherman said. "Just do it," MacGregor said, when CTV News told her about Smitherman's comments. "Then there wouldn't be this paper trail and photocopying to be done." Wilson's answer was just as direct. "If you can't get the files electronically and you've got (Ottawa) spending a billion dollars trying to do it -- just give me 300 bucks so I can get my file."
4 people like this
8 responses
@judyt00 (3497)
• Canada
10 Feb 07
Yet another case of Canadian waste of money. One would think that OHIP would be responsible for this, wouldn't you, seeing as its a legitimate medical expense. But then, that would be assuming that someone at OHIP could actually THINK! Something most government employees seem to be lacking in.
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
10 Feb 07
I know here in Florida at least in my area many doctors charge if you want a copy of your file. I've seen fees run anywhere from 25 cents a page up to $2 a page. It's crazy when things are that high. It makes it very difficult if you need to see a specialist or for some reason transfer doctors. If you have a lot of problems that file could be quite large. My thought is it should belong to me, it's my information after all. I should be able to have a copy of everything. If they gave a copy each time you went, just using carbon paper copies they could give one to the patient and one to the file each time. That way the patient could have an "at home" version of it.
@KHyuga (1694)
• Singapore
10 Feb 07
Well, that is really nonsense. I can't fathom the idea of paying for something which rightfully belongs to yourself anyway.
@KHyuga (1694)
• Singapore
10 Feb 07
That's ridiculous isn't it. Why should the patients ever be made to pay for their own medical records? It makes no sense at all!
• Canada
10 Feb 07
when my daughter ws born i was in the process of moving to a different city. she was born preematurely so she needed to see a doctor before our moving date. that doctor had received all her medical records from the hospital and made up a chart for a one time visit. after i moved i had told her i was going to find a doctor closer to home and needed the records from the hospital. she charged me like $40 for those records. i couldn't beleive it. she didnt' even right them out.
• United States
10 Feb 07
There are costs associated with copying records, but this appears to be extreme. And what of the so-called free Canadian government health plan? I sense this is one fairly large gap in the cost factors. I know I can still gain most of my medical records free of charge in this country.
• India
10 Feb 07
s patients should pay for their records as the representstives will be maintaining the file
@XxAngelxX (2830)
• Canada
10 Feb 07
This is a common practice and the same thing happened to me sort of a few years ago. My doctor moved to another province. Apparently she had posted an article in the newspaper stating she was moving and for her patients to get in contact with her so she could refer them to a new doctor. Well I don't get the newspaper so didn't have a chance to see this. When I phoned a few weeks later I was told then. So I had to start a search for a new doctor. Then when I finally found one, I was told if I wanted to transfer my records, I'd have to pay for it! Grrr ! I was royally p-o'ed. Afterall are they not OUR records??? I never bothered paying for them as I know my medical history and that of my children as well, but I also never forgot about this incident.
• United States
10 Feb 07
Typically here (NJ USA) if you are having the records sent directly to the doctor you don't have to pay. That said it is usually a summary of your records not photocopies of each page. Now I have a special needs child that I strongly believe would not have been born 3 months early had it not been for doctor errors. In order to get my records to try to sue them; I have to pay. Considering the horrible pregnancy and the amount of days I spent in the hospital (as well as his 7 weeks in NICU) that would be a HUGE bill!! I don't have the money!