Federalizing this process is only going to make it better

In the effort to find out if my client had a pre-existing condition, I called up the client’s family doctor’s office and attempted to make heads or tails of a myriad of records. As expected, I got latched up with the offices records service:

Me: I was having issues understanding the doctor’s handwriting on some of the medical records.
Records Professional: Which ones can’t you understand?
Me: The June 15th order.
Records Professional: The doctor ordered a chest x-ray, two views.
Me: Got it. Well, my client had the car accident on June 20th, like you know.
Records Professional: Right.
Me: And I have a hospital record for June 25th that shows your doctor ordered a neck MRI. I’m just looking for the actual order for the MRI.
Records Professional: Well sometimes what happens is that the chest x-ray will happen and then they’ll just take the MRI as well.
Me: I think that those are two vastly different diagnostic procedures dealing with substantially different parts of the body.
Records Professional: I don’t think that you are right about this.
Me: Regardless, I’m just looking for the doctor’s order for the Neck MRI.
Records Professional: You have it. As I explained it to you, the “chest x-ray two views”

For those of you that don’t understand the difference between a neck MRI and a chest x-ray (but are willing to be educated), it’s about a $2,000 price difference and deals with vastly different body parts (as the name implies). In other words, it would be like going to the doctor for allergy medicine and being put on chemotherapy.

I love people.