As one of the very large and growing group of computer-sophisticated Americans, I am appalled at the records-keeping methods employed by the medical profession. They lack any sign of professionalism whatsoever in this regard. My PCP and his collegues are, in my case, trying to deal with a 2-inch thick manila folder of paper records, apparently not indexed in any way, and their ability to retrieve anything from my folder is so poor that I am keeping my own parallel records (in searchable files on magnetic media) which I print and bring with me to my visits.

In several instances I have found that their written records do not agree with mine, simply because my folder contains pages that were mis-filed and that are a part of someone else's records. It is on this basis that my PCP has committed several bloopers that I caught because of my own records.

The main problem in keeping parallel records is that the records librarian at my practice will not allow me to see their version of  MY own records for cross-checking. As a consequence, I don't get to see the PCP's additions to the file until a subsequent visit.

John L. Ragle Ph.D.
(413) 549-2639