Weeks before entering graduate school, I was asked to verify compliance with Penn’s vaccination policy. The request seemed simple enough: Are my records online somewhere? Do I have to get something in the mail? Can my old school just inform my new school that I am, in fact, well-immunized…? Ultimately, it took one game of phone tag and a trip to my beloved pediatrician’s office to gather everything I needed.
I’m embarrassed to think that I was frustrated at the time, for this recount is laughably simple compared to what many endure on a daily basis. A troubling barrier exists between patients and their medical records; for patients of chronic and severe medical conditions, this barrier becomes truly and incredibly daunting. Appointments, tests, diagnoses, prognoses, prescriptions etc. rack up quickly, and when patients are seen at multiple practices simultaneously—which is all too often the case—things are repeated. Information is lost. Details are missed.
The Bioengineering Blog 