"pretty Much Normal"

[canutillo]

My son's pediatricians office just called with the results of his celiac panel. In the nurse's words, "His results were all pretty much normal." Huh? I asked for the actual numbers and such and was told she could not give them over the phone. I then said I'll come by tomorrow to pick up a copy. She put me on hold, came back and told me there was no need- everything looked fine.

No need for a follow up or to talk to the doctor.

That really annoys me!

[psawyer]

You are entitled to receive a oopy of the lab report. Insist on it.

[Takala]

I would go to the office tomorrow and tell them you are not leaving until you have, in hand, a written copy of the test results. For. The. Record.

I would also tell the nurse's boss if they ever pulled that stunt again, I'd be contacting the state attorney general's office and the insurance company.

You paid for the test via your deductible and/or copay and insurance. You own the results. They must give them to you, upon request.

My current doc's office is nice, they will send me copies if I ask, and they do that.

If you think I'm being a bit pushy, you haven't read what the previous ones did to me, withholding results. I also had another doctor tell me (after waiting 6 weeks for 1st appt, to which I had brought only partial records from a few years back) he could not begin to look at me until he had my complete medical records - when I went to the front desk to start the process, I get told that THAT will take another MONTH for them to send a request to the different office. Then my insurance charges for this, in spite of the fact that they are not supposed to. Good grief. I ended up needing surgery, (went to a different doc) and the surgeon consult was like Oh, My, they blew this off ?

Delay, deny, duplicate, delay, deny, start over. What a racket.

Oh, and the blood panels are not that perfectly accurate in children (nor adults). Maybe look at an over the counter genetic test and screening to see what's going on.

[kareng]

Just call tomorrow and tell the main desk you need a copy. They will probably send your call to someone who takes care of that. Tell them you need to pick up a copy asap. If they ask why, tell them you need to run them by a Celiac expert/ another doctor or the school nurse. This should work. They may ask you to give them a day. That is reasonable.

Are you in the US? If this doesn't work for some reason, pm me. Medical info law was my best subject & I supervised this in several hospitals. I doubt you will need to get upset. Start out being nice.

[ravenwoodglass]

'Pretty much normal' says to me it may be a low positive. I could be wrong of course but do get a hard and complete copy of those tests. When all the tests are done do a trial of the diet no matter what the results.

[Takala]

LOL. Yeah, I'm pretty ferocious on the internet to motivate people, but I don't yell much in real life, because if you are stubborn enough and polite enough AND know your rights, you can usually get what you need.

But I continue to be amazed at how these people treat your information. When you go for any tests, you have to sign releases and disclaimers that the doctor and testing facility can give the information to almost anyone or anything that requests it, including local and Federal law enforcement, courts, insurance companies, collecting agencies. They do that to increase the chance of successfully suing you if you default on the payment of fees you just guaranteed, or if there is a mistake that results in injury or a lawsuit. You sign away your rights to privacy. But then the medical offices attempt to with hold that same testing result FROM YOU, the patient, by constantly pulling stunts like this.

I see no reason why the insurance companies should know your exact test results, and then be making financial decisions on your future treatment and level of coverage, while you are kept in the dark like a fungus and fed poop !

We won't get medical costs under control until there is more patient accountability. We are trying to do a good thing here, save ourselves illness by possible diet change. We are not here for further subsidizing the heartburn medication or anti depressant industry.

[shopgirl]

That's like telling someone they're "pretty much pregnant."

Demand clarification and copies of those reports.