Eye dr shreds records after 3-5 yrs.

[Kimberle]

I had an eye exam. My new dr wants a copy of my last exam. So I stopped by the old office to get a copy. (My last exam was abt 5 years ago.) The girl at the desk said, well, we shred them after 3-5 years. She wouldn't do anything. Fortunantly, another girl came over and said, I'll look. She did find them and gave me a copy.

Aren't medical records permanent? At least as long as the dr is in practice? My eyes are pretty stable, and my prescriptions have been fine. Also, many people don't have eye coverage so don't schedule visits very often as they are expensive. I'm just dumbfounded that they would shred records 3-5 years out. How are you to build a history of a patient if your shredding records??? It's not like they give you a copy after the visit so you can build your own file. They didn't even give me a copy of my prescription.

 

[Ohiodislover]

No they are not permanent. My facility waits 7 years.

Does your current Dr know that it has been that long? Not sure how the info would really help him?

 

[monkey68]

Yea, they're not permanent if you're not still going to that place. I think most places shred them 7 years after your last visit. Otherwise, it's also a space issue. Can you imagine if they kept a record on every single patient that walked through the doors but hasn't been back for 10 years? You get someone who has been in practice for 30 years, and that's a lot of files, with no place to put them.

Not sure why he would want an eye exam from 5 years ago though. It's been so long that most people would consider it too outdated for comparison anyway.

 

[Just Jan]

The company I work for has electronic medical records (EMR).
All new patients to the practice do not have physical chart, but we have charts for patients that have been with the practice prior to using EMR. The chart we do have on the shelves have been scanned into EMR also.

 

[merryweather20]

No they are not permanent. My facility waits 7 years.

Does your current Dr know that it has been that long? Not sure how the info would really help him?

Never heard of this before. Of course information from 7 years ago is relevant. When I go to get my knee replaced in 20 years, they will of course refer to the documentation that my Dr has prepared on the first surgery.

I take a relative to the Opthamologist and he most certainly refers to information during her life especially when she is going in for surgery.

Even my Dentist can pull up information from 10 years ago when we're deciding on a course of action.

7 years is beyond insufficient for medical records. When my family Dr retired we picked up my file and he had information from my whole life from my knee surgeon five years ago, to his own notes when he deliver me more than 20 years ago. This was the same when my Grandma switched Dr's.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

My guess is that they don't shred everything on a rotating basis, but if a patient hasn't been there in that length of time, then they're shredding it.

I think if you had gone consistently in that time frame, they probably would have all that information.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Never heard of this before. Of course information from 7 years ago is relevant. When I go to get my knee replaced in 20 years, they will of course refer to the documentation that my Dr has prepared on the first surgery.

I take a relative to the Opthamologist and he most certainly refers to information during her life especially when she is going in for surgery.

Even my Dentist can pull up information from 10 years ago when we're deciding on a course of action.

7 years is beyond insufficient for medical records. When my family Dr retired we picked up my file and he had information from my whole life from my knee surgeon five years ago, to his own notes when he deliver me more than 20 years ago. This was the same when my Grandma switched Dr's.

But all of that is because you/the people you mention are active patients of the respective practices. Yes, my former physician had records of mine going back to the beginning of my association with that office (and those records have been transferred to the new practice I chose) - but I don't expect the first office to keep my records five or ten years from now.

 

[Serena]

The time frame depends on the state and federal regulations. It is usually 7 years, but some places keep some records longer or even forever. Implants of any kind for example, or anything to do with the brain.
It's also 7 years after someone turns 18.

Most places don't store all that onsite.

 

[metime]

I just feel like pointing out that it is always a good idea to keep a copy of stuff like this at home. I have a phone book of stuff for me and the kids.

It wasn't until DD and I were diagnosed with a genetic disorder that I realized, how even the regular run of the mill, DR. Visit info was important. It took months to get all of ther ecords in order and some of them I couldn't get at all.

Most people transfer their old records directly to the new dr. but if you need a copy of something from the old DR, by law the new DR cannot give it to you even if though you may have handed it to him. ( at least in my state)

I just make a point to ask for a copy of the write up from any specialist or test to be sent to me and my primary. Even an uneventful visit is kept.

And when you leave your primary ask for your records. When you take them to the new DR. tell them to make copies of what they need and to give them back to you otherwise you may not have access to them.

I even had a nurse argue with me that she didn't feel like making copies and I said, "then you don't get my copy." The Dr. asked why certain things weren't in my file and I said, "your nurse didn't want to make copies and I need to keep mine". He then called her in and explained that they need the accurate info on file and I have a right to keep my own documents and that she is never to refuse to make copies for their office use again.

He commented on how great it was that I keep everything.

 

[Ohiodislover]

Never heard of this before. Of course information from 7 years ago is relevant. When I go to get my knee replaced in 20 years, they will of course refer to the documentation that my Dr has prepared on the first surgery.

I take a relative to the Opthamologist and he most certainly refers to information during her life especially when she is going in for surgery.

Even my Dentist can pull up information from 10 years ago when we're deciding on a course of action.

7 years is beyond insufficient for medical records. When my family Dr retired we picked up my file and he had information from my whole life from my knee surgeon five years ago, to his own notes when he deliver me more than 20 years ago. This was the same when my Grandma switched Dr's.

Apples and oranges. You are still an active patient. The OP isn't.

 

[kirbsam]

if yuou have not been to the eye doctor in over 5 years, the new doctor really has nothing to learn unless there was a problem from all those years ago. since you have not been to one in over 5 years, i would say there was not one.

 

[Stacerita]

7 years is correct. Some facilities and physicians can keep them longer if they choose. Most places I have worked at keep them on average 10 years. For minors, is usually is one year past that 18th birthday, or the number of years which is in the policy, which ever is greater. The company I work for now is a children's facility, we never destroy records.