Your Physician relies on your full medical history in order to make key clinical decisions for your patient care.  If your physician or healthcare Provider does not have that physical record, there could be vital information that puts you as a patient at risk.

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Patients also have a legal right to obtain their medical records about themselves, but many patients have reported difficulty in doing so.  Records Access Services Canada is your portal enabling you to gain access to your records in a secure and confidential manner. Canadians have legal rights to access their personal health information and medical record. The Personal Health Information Privacy Act, passed in 2004, opened the door for greater access to personal medical records. In Ontario, the College of Physicians and Surgeons has a policy that all information in the medical record must be released to patients upon request, with a few small exceptions.

 

Many patients are not aware of their rights to their records. As well, while most patients express an interest in reading their medical record when offered the chance, a study published in 2002 found that less than 1% of patients or families in the United States and Canada spontaneously submit a request to review their record.

 

Preventing Needless Deaths and Suffering

Patients suffer, even die due to lack of information about their medical history or condition.  Many of these deaths could be prevented if physicians, nurses and patients had access to medical histories and records and with today’s modern technologies this is all possible.  By registering online with RASCI, patients are empowered with knowledge and to think about what is really going on with their medical history making you feel part of the decision making process.

A study in the Annals of Family Medicine found that 80% of “error chains” in medical cases resulted from miscommunications between physicians, misinformation in medical records, and mishandling of patient requests and messages.

 

Your new doctor will not only need information about past office visits and treatments – he or she will need detailed records on any current or old prescriptions, surgeries, injuries, illnesses, and hospitalizations in order to continue providing the quality of care and trust that you built with your old doctor. With experience in all aspects of medical record storage and information, we are able to compile the records your new doctor will need, while understanding the importance of patient privacy.

 

THE BOTTOM LINE

 

• Have the ability to share your medical record with any health care professional of your choice.

• Patients will not have to re-tell their medical history to every caregiver.

• Patients will not have to worry whether their doctor knows about their last prescription, test or treatment and how it may impact their current care.

• Insurers or Workers Compensation may demand this information to settle a claim.

• Patients can review their personal medical information in private, at their leisure, when they want.  Patients may be able to add relevant information, over the counter medicines or dietary supplements they are taking (reducing the likelihood of a bad drug interaction with their prescription medications), their self monitoring data for blood sugar, or their blood pressure.

• If you are ever away from home and need to visit a walk-in clinic, you will have the ability to provide them with all the important and necessary information that they require.

• Patients will not have to physically go to their doctor to get their records.

• Know the medications you have taken in the past.

• You are already in possession of other important family documents. Doesn’t it make sense to have your medical records included? 

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