What's On the West Coast
Before I wind my watch to Pacific Time, I thought I'd scan health care headlines from the West Coast. In California, the Governator just vetoed a legislative bill 2 years in the making that would have required medical facilities to inform patients of their medical retention policies.
Alan Boinus, a Laguna Beach resident, has been driving the bill through government ever since his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time and found out that medical records from her previous diagnosis had been destroyed. According to the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot, details from those records may have been helpful in determining a treatment course for her second diagnosis.
Following an unprecedented delay in passing the state budget, Gov. Schwarzenegger has only passed bills deemed to be of "highest priority." According to the article, while Boinus' bill did not make the cut, a staffer informed him that it would likely be supported in the future.
As someone who hates deleting old e-mails (hey, you never know when that book someone happened to mention might come in handy for research), I couldn't fathom destroying medical documents--especially ones containing information relating to a life-threatening disease. But then again, I'm not exactly an example of responsible record-keeping; as a recent grad, my medical history is dispersed between my hometown doctor, the university's student health center and, as recently as yesterday, a new physician near the ADVANCE office. So while my records are in safe hands and probably have a good 10 years of non-activity before they're in danger of hitting the shredder, I'm a long way from the complete documentation that would ensure the best patient care.
It seems like this would be another case for EHR: just upload the information from any facility and--presto!--complete and permanent documentation at your fingertips. But even computer systems have their storage limits, so it's likely that electronic records won't last forever. As documentation continues its transition into cyberspace and patients assume greater responsibility for personal health information, keeping the average citizen up-to-date on issues--including retention policies--just might become a "top priority."