Moving and the Medical Treatment Records Dance

We've run into our first moving snafu. I feel like Forrest Gump. My husband can't get PCS orders until ALL of our medical records get screened for the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP)....in person. Our whole family needs to sit in front of a board with a doctor and a social worker. Since my Army husband is stationed on an Air Force base, he needs to comply with their rules (I had never heard of this in the Army). This means we can't schedule our actual move, and we can't leave this place until then. My doctor is being difficult (yes, I am being seen off-post) and will only release my records after I arrive at my new place and have a new doctor to mail the records to. If I want to make the copies and hand carry them, it would be $1 per page...huh? So, if I let this get to me, I'm stuck...can't move without the stuff but can't get the stuff until we move. What a crock!

Dealing with my kids' doctor was a bit better. They lit their pants on fire and got the records copied in one day, going outside their one week protocol..and yes, they didn't charge me for that. I bought them a box of the good chocolate. My word of advice to you....before your military spouse gets his orders, especially if you get your medical care off-post like we do, assemble a list of where all your medical and dental records are. I know I had to make a list of some of the specialists I have seen over the last few years (not all procedures were in my primary care doctor's file). I also had to hunt down my last two mammograms (you should have both)...not to mention the kids' dental and my dental records. Get the requests in EARLY to each office. You have to sign a medical release form in order to get copies. Every office was accomodating except for my own doctor's office. Since I don't feel like dealing with them right now, I will use my old military medical record I had when we first moved here (when I got my care on-post), and then request my current record after I move.

I have a nurse friend who gets a copy of the paperwork from each doctor's visit and manages her and her childrens' records. She never has a problem with any of this and when her husband retires, she will have a complete medical history. If you do have any civilian medical records, please do hang onto them. Don't add them to your military treatment record...that becomes government property, and I can't tell you the number of times I have heard of lost records. Your medical records are important...treat them as such.

Do you have any moving stories to share?