Missing Test results from medical records?!


Question: Missing Test results from medical records!?
I had prolonged rupture of membranes before giving birth to my son (51!.5 hours)!. There were swabs taken from me 7 hours after membranes ruptured before I was sent home(for signs of infection)!. I was induced 2 days later and swabs were again taken from myself and the baby to check for infection!. 8 days later my son developed GBS meningits and after initially being sent away from hospital labelled a neurotic mother my son spent 2 weeks fighting for his life!. I was unhappy with many aspects of his care and treatment and requested his medical records along with my own(with great difficulty and delay) I was curious to see the results of the swabs taken and utterly shocked when the results are missing for both myself and my son!. I have contacted the records manager who advised there were no lab results on system and I also checked with maternity department who have not bothered to call me back!. These were the results that could have shown if I carried this bacteria but they are missing!.Www@Answer-Health@Com


Answers:
Hmm!. No shock that you had difficulty obtaining your records, and some surprise that they gave them to you without charging you for the process!. You own the information contained in your records, but the hospital owns the paper and they can charge you for the copies!. The OB floor or department won't have your records anymore, as they're all sent down to archive after the patient is discharged and the physician has dictated the summary!.

But back to the matter at hand!. It's possible the cultures were sent to a pathology lab outside the hospital!. If so, the hospital may be telling you the truth when they say they don't have the results!. Did you ever get a bill from a lab or from a pathologist other than the hospital's facilities!? That's the first place I'd look - the lab itself will have the results!.

Second, was your delivery covered by insurance of any kind!? If it was, and an insurance company paid for the test, you should have received an explanation of benefits (EOI) that will show what kind of lab procedures/cultures were taken and when they were submitted for billing!. On the EOI there will be the name and address of the lab and/or the physician who read the results!.

If the insurance company paid for the lab tests but there are no results, meaning they've apparently vanished into oblivion, insurance companies don't like paying for tests and exams and procedures that were never done!. As a next-to-last attempt, contest the insurance company's payment stating that the procedure was never done!. They could either find the test and where its results are, or they could tell you that it did indeed vanish!.

Finally, as a last gasp, contact an attorney who specializes in medical malpractice!. She/he has ways of making the hospital or physician find the records that you don't have!. If your son is still experiencing problems from the meningitis, you should definitely contact an attorney for advice!. With all respect, you, as a layperson, may not know the right questions to ask, the standards of care, the hospital's policies and procedures, or how to read between the lines of the medical record!.

The physician and/or hospital may have vanished those cultures intentionally, but it could be an oversight!. Also, remember that sequelae from infantile meningitis can take several years to appear, so keep a close eye on how he grows and develops!.

Good luck!Www@Answer-Health@Com

jennifer's right - and again, keep at it!. !. !. good luck!Www@Answer-Health@Com

Ok and!? There is nothing any of us can do about it!.Www@Answer-Health@Com

It sounds as if though you need to contact an attorney and let him find out where the missing results might be!.!. hmmm!.!.!.Www@Answer-Health@Com

Yep I am afraid this happens! I have had many tests missing in action, lost somewhere between them being taken and being tested but do not ask me where!. It is annoying and frustrating, but this is part of the system!. Best of Luck
PS what I have found in 20 years of being ill, sometime if the test result is NORMAL they really do not bother recording it!. At the start of my illness when they were doing x-rays and autoimmune screening, they results were coming back normal!. As the exam papers were marked Rheumatoid Arthritis and the x-ray was normal they lit rally did not bother telling anyone my x-ray was normal!. Likewise the autoimmune tests were initially within limits of being accepted as being normal, so no report back!. It was only when things got into the diagnostic criteria that the tests were back and pretty fast! So x-ray taken Tuesday afternoon and my Doctor called me Wednesday morning to see him ASAP! My Rheumatoid Factor blood test taken Tuesday morning, I had a phone call at 3pm telling me to come and see him as it came back at 125, which means I could have heart problems!. Therefore it could be your swabs were normal, they covered the suspected infection with antibiotics, so that was it, no need to report!.Www@Answer-Health@Com





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