Why you should always get your test results

[shoshin]

According to this recent article in U.S. News & World report

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/06/22/patients-often-not-told-about-abnormal-test-results.html

researchers found "more than a 7 percent failure rate in communicating abnormal test results."

Although the better-organized offices did better, no doctor's office was perfect.

They quote Diane Pinakiewicz, president of the nonprofit National Patient Safety Foundation, who says that "Patients should ask for their test results on a consistent basis, whether or not the results are of concern -- because, if you ask for them 100 percent of the time, there is no question you will always stay informed."

sho

[Fluffysmom]

I found out from my hipaa friend that it's possible that they didn't include the clinicians notes along with the chart notes, which might contain interesting and perhaps vital information.

I have printed out the request form to view my complete file and copy anything I don't have, since my previous neuro mentioned that she would have recorded any abnormal test results in her clinicians notes, whereas her chart notes were always pretty much the same each visit.  My hipaa friend will go with me and help me make sure I don't miss anything.

I have found many mistakes and inconsistencies in my chart notes since this journey through limboland started, and even requested that my chart be corrected on a few occasions.  

I haven't read the article yet, but I will.  This is really important to us all.

Someday I'll have the energy to do that health page on HIPAA and the OCR.  I've started accumulating all the information; just need to put it all in a concise health page.  Unless, of course, some one has already done it and I just haven't seen it yet.  :o)

Please do always get your test results; I think it's a good idea to also get your chart notes and clinicians notes.  You can tell this is an important topic to me!

Kathy

[Ufrustrated2]

extremely important!!

that was the only way I was able to correct the MS doctor recently who canceled an appt to discuss DMDs, who stated my last LP in 2008 was neg for O-bands, said we don't need to do DMDs but lets get another LP, but we don't see anything wrong, which is good news for you. I was thinking, "do you have the right patient!?"

i faxed them the 2008 results that showed >5 O-bands plus the 1986 O-band pos with abnormal IgG index. did i hear back from them? nope. did they continue with the ordering of a new LP? looks like it.  draw your own conclusions.

so indeed, always get those docs, ya just never know when you'll need them ...

[sllowe]

Excellent reminder! Thank you!

It happens all the time!  Recently, a colleague of mine daughter had an xray on her leg which showed nothing, but she was getting pain, and she is very active and plays sports.  They discussed some scenarios and gave her daughter some PT to do but ordered an MRI to be on the safe side.

Over 2 weeks later at the follow up appt. the MRI showed her leg was "fractured." The Dr never called when the imaging in and basically didn't look at the report until this visit!

    Always get your reports!

[Lulu54]

To add one more dimension to this discussion  - in a magazine at the doctors a while back I read an article on emergency preparedness.  One huge lesson learned from Hurrican Katrina was that many doctors offices and hospitals were so severely damaged that the medical records were lost forever.  


Now we all don't leave in hurrican zones, but there are all sorts of catastrophes including earthquakes, tornados, and fires that could just as easily wipe out our records.  Having a copy of everything makes sure that those test results are safe.

my two cents,
Lulu

[doublevision1]

Along these same lines, getting copies of your records provides an opportunity to ensure the correct tests were actually run.

A few months ago, when I had heard nothing back about the results of my NMO-IgG blood work, I asked the MS clinic and was told they hadn't received the results yet.  I thought, weird, since I had had it done over a month earlier.  So I called the lab myself, they told me that the results of my IgG test were normal. Which was great, except for the fact that this was not the test that was ordered.  Should have been NMO-IgG, not IgG.  

I brought this to the attention of the MS clinic, and eventually the NMO-IgG test was RE-ordered.  When I asked them to contact me when the results arrive, the nurse told me "Not to worry!" in her bright, chipper, and mildly patronizing tone of voice.  "We only contact those patients whom the dr needs to follow up with."  I replied, Actually I'm not worried, just curious about how I will know if the correct test was actually done, let alone whether results are normal.  She said she'd pass the message on to my neuro and "hopefully" he'll call me back.  He never did, which is disappointing to me, though I got a copy of the results (negative, for the CORRECT test this time) from my GP.  The only thing that leaves me hanging somewhat is the high rate of false negatives for this test, though this is a separate issue, and one I'll address at my next visit.

Anyway, the lesson for me has been to not just pay attention to my results, but to look at the actual tests that were run as well.  

BTW, I have all of my records scanned and saved to a USB flash drive.  Handy because it takes up such little space and is portable, and helpful for a first appt with a new doc in case they haven't received your reports from the referring doc.

[Nancy T]

My daughter's orthodontist ordered a panoramic x-ray early in her treatment but apparently didn't look at it. He just told us she'd need to get her wisdom teeth out in the future.

Three years later he says, Well, it's about time to get her wisdom teeth out. I took her and that old x-ray to an oral surgeon in another office, who pointed out that it showed CYSTS around her wisdom teeth, which should have been taken out immediately!

In the intervening three years, the cysts had grown so much that there was a significant possibility she'd end up with permanent numbness, cancer, or a broken jaw.

Lucky for her--and for the orthodontist!--that she didn't get any of those things.

But how would I have known to ask about the "results" of a pre-orthodontic x-ray? I had no reason to suspect anything wrong.