Hubby is going in to have his thyroid removed next Friday, so we’re at the hospital today for scans, assorted tests and all that lovely insurance paperwork. Sitting here makes me appreciate being well, and makes me want to kick myself in the ass for not trying harder to exercise and get myself in shape. I didn’t help his mood last night by watching House either, but that’s another story.
With all of this in process, we’ve talked around the idea of heading to the UK at some point in the future, most likely after the kid is off on his own. I’m just amazed at the repeatative nature of getting things done here, every doctor or specialist we see has to get the info all over again, so we’ve gotten into the habit of asking for copies of all the records every time either one of us goes in for anything. The circulating idea of a centralized medical history would make so much of this process easier. I would also think it would save a lot in the long run because it wouldn’t be up to individuals to remember or selectively forget that they have done things in the past. Then again, it would also be a more accurate picture of what is being done in regards to different treatments and diagnosis, so I can definitely see where fudging things could be much more difficult.
So are people against this idea mainly because it’s a lot of work to get it up and running, or would it actually bring to light a lot of the crap that gets in the way of getting people the help they need and getting it covered by insurance?
1. Comment by Bob
20/Feb/2009 at 9:32 am
Here in the UK we have a system whereby you are registered to a local doctor General Practioner) who keeps your medical records, formerly in paper format, more recently on computer.
My wife went for a consultation with a specialist this week and he had a printout of my wife’s recent medical history provided by the local doc including all the medication she is taking.
There is talk of further centralisation with the creation of a national central database but frankly given the level of competence of central government I hope it won’t happen. I can’t beleive that they’ll secure it adequately.
Bobs last blog post..Thank you for being a friend
2. Comment by Stepford Mom
20/Feb/2009 at 10:30 am
The husband is English and we actually discussed the idea of him going back over to have this done if there was going to be a problem with insurance.
I agree with the competency of any government group, there are far too many things that need to be done well the first time for something like this to get off the ground running with no issues. In the long run, it has potential, but I’m not going to hold my breath