UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

NEW SPECIMENS OLD SPECIMENS THE SCIENTIST MY LOG CONTACT ME
2002-06-11 - 6:16 p.m.

NOT A RELEASE BUT A CROWBAR

Outsmarting bureaucracies is a full-time occupation. People complain about the law, the courts, and all the paperwork but if the goal is to be the most inefficient and annoying bureaucracy possible, the courts could learn something from county medical records people. Even the prison system people are in awe and it takes a lot to impress them.

My investigator has been trying to obtain the medical records of my client so that we can document his medication. My client signed the first release I prepared on the county medical records department form. I was very careful to use their form because they no longer accept generic forms even if they contain all of the information on the department form. I have no idea what the magic is to their form but apparently it holds powerful magic.

But not powerful enough. The first rejection of their own form was one I could understand. My client inadvertently misdated the form. Instead of writing in �May,� he wrote in June. Okay, it was a not yet effective release. I could live with that. My investigator couldn�t sweet-talk them into accepting the form but she could sweet-talk the correctional institution social worker into having him sign a faxed one and then fax it back.

So, I re-typed (yes, typed. The stupid form does not go on computer. That fact alone tells you that they don�t want anyone actually turning one in.) the form and we faxed it. The social worker followed through and returned a signed copy. My investigator took the form in and we thought we were on our way.

Wrong! Today, two days after the form was turned in, she received a call. There was an �X� in the box that said that we wanted the records from Facility A but there was no �X� in the box at the top that said �To Facility A.� Never mind that there was a line that read that Facility A was to release the records. Never mind that Facility A still had a copy of the original misdated form. No, we�d have to submit another form.

I haven�t yet gone sideways on this one but I will. Several years back, the court decided it could only take copies of a particular document from the Department of Corrections if the cover was yellow. Most of my office went back to the Department and requested a copy with a yellow cover. I just got out our yellow copy paper and re-copied the top sheet onto yellow paper. Voil�!

Yet I can�t shake the feeling that my client can sign by the X until his hand falls off and the form will never be enough. What we need is not a release but a crowbar.

LAST YEAR: Sticky Situation

____

UPDATE: Today�s contact report. Right eye: first try. Left eye: fourth try. We may make it yet.

previous - next

|

Weblog Commenting and Trackback by HaloScan.com
Copyright 2006 by Ellen

join my Notify List and get email when I update my site:
email:
Powered by NotifyList.com

On Display Ring
[ Previous | Next ]
[ Previous 5 | Next 5 ]
[ List Sites ]

about me - read my profile! read other DiaryLand diaries! recommend my diary to a friend! Get your own fun + free diary at DiaryLand.com!