Non - Va Medical Records

[donews]

Ok heres the situation.

I am trying to gather most of my non-VA medical records for an IMO and to have for when the VA looses them.

Every doctor / Hospital I contacted except two want upto $0.75 per page for copies of these records.

One hospital that I use a lot due to its proximity to my home wants $1800.00 for a full copy of my medical records.

They will send them to another doctor free of charge.

Three times they have send a CASE of records to the VA and the records room has lost them all three times.

The only doctors I have are all VA doctors.

Does anyone know if there is a service out there that will request all my records and then charge me a small fee and then ship them to me?

Or does anyone have a suggestion as to how I might go about obtaining the records cheaper or free?

I mean we have a right for a free copy of our credit report, but no right to free copies of our medical records, there is something just very wrong about that.

[tssnave]

Don,

I say again, talk to the person who has decision making authority, and in this case, it would be someone at the offsite storage facility. Ask the office manager for the name and number of the facility and a contact person if she has one.

FTR, I believe the office manager. She does not have command and control of the records or the copy machine that they would be copied on. Find out who does and then ask them to copy your records.

Hang in there and keep us posted,

TS

[luvHIM]

Don, I have no good advice to offer. I'm just frustrated for you. I have not experienced being requested to pay for my non-VA medical records. But I have experienced time delays from request to actual receipt of my records. Fortunately, I did receive them. I hope things work out for you because I was told by a supv at the 1-80# the other day "...all the medical records you can send in will only be to your advantage." So, I can definitely empathize with you regarding your need for them.

[donews]

luvhim,

Thank you for your concern.

Ts,

I have contacted the storage facility company.

I am currently waiting for them to discuss the issue with the Hospital and the Storage Facilities Manager.

I explained that I am a disabled vet and have limited resources, and that these records are very important to me and my claim.

I also explained that they were more than welcome to use me as an avenue for good press, they could call the paper and let them know how they assisted a vet with something or something like that.

Who knows maybe if I appeal to their public image it might help.

I will let you know when I hear more.

[tssnave]

Don,

BRILLIANT move!!

Good job, it sounds promising.

Keep us posted,

TS

Edited March 17, 2008 by tssnave

[cowgirl]

Don, you put a smile on my face with your wit! Hope it works for you, if not maybe a letter faxed to the facility manager (CC its shareholder company?) with a sympathetic request regards your destitute situation and total medical reliability being the VA. Of course, your gracious charm would ensure success! Best to ya, cg

[donews]

Don, you put a smile on my face with your wit! Hope it works for you, if not maybe a letter faxed to the facility manager (CC its shareholder company?) with a sympathetic request regards your destitute situation and total medical reliability being the VA. Of course, your gracious charm would ensure success! Best to ya, cg

Glad I could make you smile!

I received a letter today from the Storage Facility listing a fee of about $60.00, which is hundreds less than the original amount.

They also hand wrote a message on the invoice from the manager stating that they would be glad to send the records to as many VA facilities as I needed, just to give them the address's and they will get them there.

So this is a very good thing.

I am going to call tommorow to verify that this is correct and that this will contain all the records I need. If so, then my appeal to them was successful!