there's an episode of seinfeld where elaine tries all these elaborate schemes to get a hold of her medical record... the doctors keep writing something in it that cues other doctors to treat her a certain way...as a "difficult" patient.  through all her attempts, the medical staff is able to keep their stronghold over her records til the end.  i suppose the episode pokes fun at how secretive the whole note-taking process can seem... and how oddly difficult it sometimes seems to get a hold of your records. 

recently, i started thru the process of collecting my medical records from the various docs i've seen... a potentially sensitive process cuz i am deciding not to go with one surgeon's advice and seeking the opinion of another, also at Rush and also in the same building.  it can be a surprisingly difficult process.  one office told me that there'd be a 5-7 day waiting period after i sign some release forms.  when i decide to just show up at the office (considering im around the hospital every day anyway), they tell me of the fee that i need to pay to get a copy of my chart.  but i can avoid the charge if they send it directly to a doctor's office (so they do prefer to keep their records amongst themselves...)  it was all unnecessarily difficult, especially considering i had to go down the hall to the new surgeon's office to get their fax number.  i COULD just walk the copies over myself.  in the end, i didnt get to see my own chart.  kinda ridiculous, no?   

that was the hematologist's office.  the vascular surgeon's office was kind enough to xerox my records for me... but i later find out that it was only limited disclosure.  there were no copies of the actual doctor's notes.  only the correspondence letters between the different physicians.  but unbeknownst to them....THIS IS WHERE THEY SLIP UP!  perhaps a simple misjudgement on the part of the secretary, but a key piece of information was leaked in one of the letters.  perhaps the crucial piece of information that they so arduously try to keep me from seeing:

"as you know..."   so they all knew!  the docs were all in cohoots!   to think of all the identity issues i unecessarily went thru in college! 

imagine all the crucial information your doctors are potentially keeping from you!!!