KittenPaws
02-12-2007, 01:46 PM
I am not sure where to put this, but i'm peeving mad. I went to the medical records department in our hospital (i've had 3 visits over the last 2 years) to get copies of my records and lab work. I was informed that i didn't have lab work done for one of my visits. And i know i had lab work done. i went in on this particular day because i was vomiting blood for the last week and my fiance forced me to go in (2005). I was later informed the next day when i was still there that It appears that i might have an auto-immune condition (2 other doctors had same confirmation in the next few months.....they ALSO lost my work!!). I really dont know what to do?? I need copies of these records but the stuff i NEED is not there... and apparently the day i had the labs i needed, he took a strep test from my throat??? um... NO!! I had no strep throat test, my throat was never swabbed. I basically had blood taken, was given 2 tylenol and got shuffled off to my GP who i informed the ER doc that they didnt even care about me (the GP) So i left really upset and crying.
I feel like im losing my mind! Scrambling everywhere to get copies of stuff, lookin for new doctors, my symptoms are still worse, and yes, my newest GP just left me to go work for an office of doctors that well...i was looking for, but in another city. What do i do?? Should i make a complaint? I checked the name on teh lab work, its all my name...but not my tests. :mad:
Pleses someone who knows what to do tell me, i dont really want to start all over again.
I feel like im losing my mind! Scrambling everywhere to get copies of stuff, lookin for new doctors, my symptoms are still worse, and yes, my newest GP just left me to go work for an office of doctors that well...i was looking for, but in another city. What do i do?? Should i make a complaint? I checked the name on teh lab work, its all my name...but not my tests. :mad:
Pleses someone who knows what to do tell me, i dont really want to start all over again.
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Misty800
02-12-2007, 07:56 PM
As it stands now, you need a new doctor and new lab. I would not accept lab work that was not mine even if it had my name on it.
Sounds like the lab did not keep samples properly marked or bother to check name on them and goofed by putting another person's results down under your name. It is one thing to lose the correct lab work by being filed in the wrong place but certainly a more dangerous thing to mix up lab samples.
PLEASE do not use the lab results you got in your name since you did not have those tests.
Make sure future lab work is done by a more respectable lab.
Sounds like the lab did not keep samples properly marked or bother to check name on them and goofed by putting another person's results down under your name. It is one thing to lose the correct lab work by being filed in the wrong place but certainly a more dangerous thing to mix up lab samples.
PLEASE do not use the lab results you got in your name since you did not have those tests.
Make sure future lab work is done by a more respectable lab.
plasva
02-13-2007, 04:08 AM
This is interesting, because I had labwork done recently and then received a letter in the mail stating my strep test was negative... I also did not have a throat culture done. So I called the office, and they looked in my medical file. In my case, the correct tests were done, but the medical assistant filled out the wrong thing on my letter. (I guess they do a lot of strep throat cultures.)
In your case, it sounds like one possibility is your samples were labelled with someone else's name and theirs with yours. If that's the case, I'm surprised the doctor's office didn't notice the correct tests were not done for you. Another possibility is the correct tests were done, but the results were not filed properly. It sounds more like a labelling issue, though -- either labels were switched, or the correct labels were not printed in the first place?
If your doctor lost your paperwork, they can get another copy. All of the information is stored in the lab's computer system. You might have to keep fighting for copies of all of your records.
The best way to prevent problems is to ask to see all of your samples after they are drawn and labelled and make sure all of the tubes are labelled not only with your name but your correct birthdate and medical record number. Also, make sure the tests listed on the requisition are correct and a sample drawn for each (it's okay if more than one test is listed on one tube of blood.)
I realize it is a pain to make sure your tubes are labelled correctly, and it's not even possible to do if you're really sick, so this is obviously NOT your fault in any way.
Keep fighting for your real records. NOT handwritten copies where someone writes "strep throat culture negative" but copies of the lab results straight from the lab computer. (Sorry if that's what you already have.... there are different types of lab result reports, and they usually don't give you copies of the original.)
Good luck!
In your case, it sounds like one possibility is your samples were labelled with someone else's name and theirs with yours. If that's the case, I'm surprised the doctor's office didn't notice the correct tests were not done for you. Another possibility is the correct tests were done, but the results were not filed properly. It sounds more like a labelling issue, though -- either labels were switched, or the correct labels were not printed in the first place?
If your doctor lost your paperwork, they can get another copy. All of the information is stored in the lab's computer system. You might have to keep fighting for copies of all of your records.
The best way to prevent problems is to ask to see all of your samples after they are drawn and labelled and make sure all of the tubes are labelled not only with your name but your correct birthdate and medical record number. Also, make sure the tests listed on the requisition are correct and a sample drawn for each (it's okay if more than one test is listed on one tube of blood.)
I realize it is a pain to make sure your tubes are labelled correctly, and it's not even possible to do if you're really sick, so this is obviously NOT your fault in any way.
Keep fighting for your real records. NOT handwritten copies where someone writes "strep throat culture negative" but copies of the lab results straight from the lab computer. (Sorry if that's what you already have.... there are different types of lab result reports, and they usually don't give you copies of the original.)
Good luck!
KittenPaws
02-14-2007, 08:21 PM
It was an ER admission that i had the bloods taken at. I was sorta out of it and histerical when it was taken and the i didnt like the doctor at all (seemed really stuck up, etc.) Knowing it can be a mix up, do i go up to records at the hospital it was done at and talk to someone, or should i call customer service?
feelbad
02-15-2007, 11:08 AM
I am just wondering if that vomiting actually stopped (how severe was it?)and what symptoms you are currently displaying now?have you had any sort of recent lab work done at all?good luck with getting your results.hospitals just suck sometimes when it comes to obtaining the right info that you just have to have.my hospital just 'happened' to lose the one and only op report that stated they had hit and lost a nerve during a spinal cord surgery which caused me to actually be denied by disability the first time around,despite all of the devistating damage and disabilities,duh?i finally had to track it down with a bit of detective work or i never would have been able to prove the actual nerve injury.their system sucks as far as patients being able to obtain their own accurate records.i wish you luck,FB