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I have been given access to PatientBank.us as part of a product review through the Chronic Illness Bloggers network. Although the product was a gift, all opinions in this review remain my own. Positive review was not required.
Recently I was forced to leave a doctor because his bedside manner went downhill and when you have as many chronic illnesses as I do, unfortunately, you have to make the right decision for you. I have had problems with this particular doctor’s office “losing” my records so I was looking for a way to request my records (they were difficult in the past about record requests) that wouldn’t be a complete hassle. I was given the chance to review PatientBank which work out perfectly.
I thought it would be super complicated to request my records but I was surprised at how simple it all is. It’s faster than any time I have tried to request my records from doctors and hospitals. Hospitals are legally allowed 30 days to respond to your requests. PatientBank gets them in a third of that time. You do everything online. The worst part about requesting records is that a lot of the offices still require you to fax things in. I am pretty sure my fax machine has about an inch of dust on it. My favorite part of PatientBank is that it’s 100% trackable. You don’t have to worry about calling your doctor to ask where your records are. They do it for you and keep you updated. I got an email letting me know that the doctor office I mentioned above was being difficult about releasing my records. I even had the office call me and all I had to do is refer them to the website. It was a lot easier than trying to deal with it myself. I no longer have to make countless paper copies when I go to a new doctor, I can just email them a copy of my records.
Another fantastic feature of PatientBank is the downloadable, sharable files. They keep a copy online in your portal, I downloaded a copy and shared the copy with my husband so he has a copy. It’s super important to have that because he is in charge of my medical decisions if I cannot make them.
Without using PatientBank, the process of gathering my medical records can be a disaster. Every hospital or doctor has a slightly different process for completing medical record requests. PatientBank streamlines the entire process and allows us as patients to create a request from the comfort of our own homes. Using PatientBank, you simply create an account and sign a HIPAA authorization electronically. The form specifies what information you want to request from your hospital. PatientBank staff then contacts the hospital via phone to make sure they have received your request. They will also deal with any issues that may arise. You can think of it as full-service medical record retrieval available at the click of a button. It really was just a click of a button. I didn’t have the stress of calling, explaining WHY I wanted my records and dealing with the office staff.
If you are worried about security, don’t be. It is required every patient to verify their identity with a well-known service, https://blockscore.
Below are the states that PatientBank is available:
If you are like me and have multiple doctor offices plus the records to go along with them, PatientBank is an invaluable tool to have in managing your health. I highly recommend it. It’s quick, easy and is one less thing you have to think of when you already have a million things to remember.
Want to try it? Use my code EEFA7D23 and use this link for a free PatientBank request.
