Why doctors repeat stuff and what to do about it

Editor’s note: In this weekly column addressing medical and health care issues, doctors from Mercer University’s medical school provide useful and timely information on a variety of topics. Readers with questions for the doctors can email them at groover_ce@mercer.edu.

Imagine that you’ve been having a vague symptom and you visit your primary care doctor with the hopes of getting some answers. Your doctor orders whatever test(s) he deems relevant, also hoping to get some answers. Your results come back, and your doctor decides at this point, a specialist will better assist you. The specialist, not knowing what information your primary doctor already has, orders the same set of tests to begin her investigation.

This is a situation many of you may have experienced. It is not uncommon to have labs or imaging studies repeated from doctor to doctor, or hospital to hospital. In fact, Consumer Health Choices, an organization dedicated to educating patients on health care decisions, contains numerous patient stories that pertain to diagnostic studies being repeated by different doctors or health care facilities. While this is a multifaceted issue, we are going to try to definitively explain one of the main reasons this happens.

Most people think that doctors can just get any patient record using their electronic medical record. Unfortunately, this is not the case. This is because those records lack what is called “interoperability.” Interoperability is the term used to describe communication between different information technology systems in the health care field. Because electronic records lack interoperability, there is no direct or easy method of communication across electronic records companies. Since hundreds of different electronic records companies exist, and most physicians use different companies, many physicians cannot easily access patient records from another physician. So more often than not the current doctor is going to repeat the tests that you have already had done. This is especially common in the hospital setting or in situations where the physicians cannot easily communicate. This tends to prolong your diagnosis or treatment plan, which can be distressing if the symptom is an alarming one.

The reasons for lack of interoperability are complex issues and could take up a few pages on their own. It remains a controversial and thoroughly discussed topic in the health care world and, thus, may or may not be solved in the near future. While many solutions are in progress on the health care side, what can you, as the patient, do about it in the meantime? The best solution to this issue is to always ask for a copy of your records, including any imaging studies or other diagnostic studies. Any facility can give you a copy in various formats, and you can bring that to your next doctor appointment. Another helpful tool is to write down the name of any doctor who orders a certain study. Records cannot be requested if the health professionals do not know who to ask.

Finally, never be afraid to ask why a study is being repeated. Sometimes, a study needs to be repeated to look for any changes. However, if you know a test is being repeated because of clerical or logistical problems, you can help solve that problem yourself.

For more information, visit websites such as Consumer Health Choices (www.consumerhealthchoices.org) and Choosing Wisely (www.choosingwisely.org), which further detail patient experiences and expert opinions on this topic.

This story was originally published December 22, 2016 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Why doctors repeat stuff and what to do about it."