Limiting IC access to medical records

[LeglEgl]

(10-17-2011 09:14 PM)BooBoosNeck Wrote:  In my case I found out they had requested ALL of my previous medical records. My jaw dropped when I saw all of the records they had collected. They have cd's containing copies of my mamograms for the last several years, had documents in my file that showed when I had a urinary tract infection and even when I had bronchitis several years ago. I understand they want to know if I had previous injuries but damn, come on!

CD's are a lot cheaper than hard copies.

Some of what they are looking for, in certain cases, is whether or not you've made other claims of illness or injury against another - even post-treatment claims against providers. Your medical records actually tell a lot about you.

I'll give you an example (and remember, I helped DEFEND IW's, not IC's) - if the medical records show a variety of minimal health issues that are treated by a medical provider, when some could have been self-treated, they conclude that you are more likely to exaggerate your injury claim, or at least the effects of it.

That's probably not applicable to your case, but, to mitigate the financial exposure, the IC's will look for anything that might weigh in their favor. It's a business - cost-cutting and overhead control is paramount.

[BooBoosNeck]

(10-18-2011 08:30 AM)LeglEgl Wrote:  

(10-17-2011 09:14 PM)BooBoosNeck Wrote:  In my case I found out they had requested ALL of my previous medical records. My jaw dropped when I saw all of the records they had collected. They have cd's containing copies of my mamograms for the last several years, had documents in my file that showed when I had a urinary tract infection and even when I had bronchitis several years ago. I understand they want to know if I had previous injuries but damn, come on!

CD's are a lot cheaper than hard copies.

Some of what they are looking for, in certain cases, is whether or not you've made other claims of illness or injury against another - even post-treatment claims against providers. Your medical records actually tell a lot about you.

I'll give you an example (and remember, I helped DEFEND IW's, not IC's) - if the medical records show a variety of minimal health issues that are treated by a medical provider, when some could have been self-treated, they conclude that you are more likely to exaggerate your injury claim, or at least the effects of it.

That's probably not applicable to your case, but, to mitigate the financial exposure, the IC's will look for anything that might weigh in their favor. It's a business - cost-cutting and overhead control is paramount.

LeglEgl,
You do a really outstanding job of explaining things, Thanks!!

[1171]

more then half the time- especially when there are a lot of records --they don't review them at all.
they'll just send copies to the IME and let them pour thru them to see if there is anything relevant to the injury.
most carriers give adjusters high workloads so they really don't have time to read 6 inches or more (or 800mb) of copied records.

1171's razor (apologies to friar william): the most mundane reason is more likely then one that requires that you assume a more complex motivation.