Note on Hippa

For all you newbies out there just starting with your first surgical consult, you should be aware of some issues prompted by the new hippa laws. Don't assume that all your records are going to smoothly transfer from clinic to clinic. We have moved several times in the past 3 years and I thought all you had to do was sign one release to have your old records forwarded to the new clinic. Well, that is only partially correct. They will only forward what you have had done in THEIR clinic, not all your previous records from other sources. I had to fill out individual releases for every single clinic I have ever used and then send those forms on to each of those clinics. I'm sure it won't be long before they start charging postage cost. Even if the last clinic you were at has all of your records from other places, under the new law, they cannot forward records to the next place. All records must be released only from their original source. Because I had multiple clinics with important info at each one, I also followed up with phone calls to make sure the whole task got done in a timely manner. It was a headache, but now that we are more settled where we want to be and plan on staying at our present clinic for a long time, I feel our PCP's have what they need to provide us with the best care. I don't recall having this problem when the info had to be forwarded to the surgeon though other than signing a new release. Just thought everyone ought to have this important piece of info.