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Quick Tip for Families in ICU: My Mother’s in ICU & the ICU Team is Refusing Access to Medical Records, This Email Turned It Around!

Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care.

So, today I want to read out another letter or email that we have written for one of our clients to get the desired outcome.

So, what we are doing with intensivecarehotline.com, we are providing consulting and advocacy for families in intensive care. I can confidently say we have saved many lives over the years for families in intensive care for their loved ones. You can verify that on our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com or on our podcast section at intensivecarehotline.com where we’ve done some client interviews.

Anyway, this is with a client we worked with and that’s one of the letters that has gone to hospital executive that we have crafted for them, written for them with all of our clinical insights and with our knowledge about patient and family rights in intensive care.

I’ll just read this out for you, and you can use for your own good if you replay the video. Obviously, the clinical situation is always different, but the framework is often the same.

So, “Dear put in the [hospital CEO’s name],

I hope this email finds you well.

Well, I would like to provide you with a comprehensive update regarding the ongoing issues and instances of discrimination experienced by the family and patient, which is my mother, ranging from the medical staff to the administration at the regional medical center.

Despite the determination made by the Ethics Committee last week, which concluded that ongoing active care would be beneficial based on the patient’s clinical scenario, persistent challenges, and the family’s expressed desire to continue with such care, we have observed minimal improvement in the patient’s health and clinical condition. This can be attributed to the lack of implementation of essential medical practices and insufficient attention given to the patient’s needs.

Regrettably, we have not received any communication or acknowledgement from your esteemed administration concerning these pressing matters. The problems we initially highlighted, along with the urgent need for resolution, remain unaddressed, leaving us deeply concerned about the lack of accountability and continued discriminatory practices that persist at the highest levels within the organization. Despite the medical staff’s awareness of the patient’s need for assistance, the situation has not improved, resulting in additional challenges for the patient and their family.

I would also like to draw your attention to the unresolved issue related to medical records. Despite the initially promised timeline for resolution which has now exceeded one month, there has been no progress or resolution in sight. Unfortunately, the director and administration have resorted to deflecting responsibility by engaging in a blame game, rather than demonstrating effective leadership and taking proactive measures to rectify the situation.

Despite our prior communication, clarifying that third-party service is not at fault, the focus remains misplaced, attributing blame to external entities. The crux of the matter lies in the excessive file size and incompatible format employed by the regional hospital when uploading patient records, resulting in significant impediments to efficient data management. Urgent attention is required to rectify this issue promptly.

The trusted third-party service provider, MyHealthOne, has diligently endeavored to troubleshoot their system and develop potential solutions for accessing the medical records, but the regional medical center has yet to take substantive action to address their ongoing data-related challenges. Consequently, the patient’s file remains excessively large due to data upload issues, underscoring the pressing need for resolution. It is disconcerting that a seemingly straightforward matter such as data management for medical records has not been promptly addressed, particularly considering the data solutions available in our current digital era. This lack of accountability and effective leadership within the hospital is deeply concerning.

As we approach the point of exhaustion in our efforts to reach a satisfactory resolution for the numerous challenges faced during my mom’s tenure at the regional hospital, it is disheartening to know that our concerns have been met with disregard and insufficient follow-up. Therefore, we feel compelled to escalate our grievances and concerns to the Medical Board of California, as it is vital to apprise them of the extensive details regarding the challenges we have encountered, and the inadequate responses received thus far.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We sincerely hope that swift and appropriate action will be taken to address and resolve these ongoing issues, thereby ensuring delivery of compassionate, high-quality care.”

It’s just one example of a letter that we’ve written that turned the needle for our client to get access to medical records. You should know straight away that if a hospital is delaying or potentially denying access to medical records, you should know straight away they’ve got something to hide. Because if they’ve got nothing to hide, they will give you access to the medical records. In this day and age, it’s just giving you a username and a password and access to an app, that’s all it is. Most hospitals now have their medical records on an app. If they’re not giving you access to that app with medical records, you know straight away they have something to hide.

Now, on another note, we are talking about an ethics committee. Even though this particular ethics committee ruled in favor of the client, in most cases, I would not agree to go to an ethics committee. Full stop. Ethics committee, in my extensive experience, I’ve worked in critical care nursing for nearly 25 years in three different countries where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years. We have been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care and intensivecarehotline.com since 2013. Like I said, we’ve been saving many lives here at intensivecarehotline.com for our hundreds of clients and members over the years, which you can verify in our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com and you can verify it on our podcast section at intensivecarehotline.com where we’ve done client interviews.

I would not go to an ethics committee. I would just brush it off. Say, “Look, we’re not interested in an ethics committee.” Ethics committee is just a euphemism for death committee, that’s what it really is. I wouldn’t give them that platform. It is entirely up to you whether you want to have an ethics committee involved or not. It’s not up to them, not up to the hospital. Don’t give them that platform. You need to create your own narrative. You need to establish your own goals, and you shouldn’t pay too much attention to what the hospital is doing because they have their own agenda, which is to free up ICU beds as quickly as possible, which is (a) by sending patients out or (b) by potentially withdrawing treatment to let them die. You have to go in with your eyes open and that’s what you need to do.

Like I said, we’ve been helping hundreds of members and clients over the years, getting real results for them and helping their loved ones, and getting outcomes, changing the narrative away from the intensive care team’s narrative, making sure you make informed decisions, you have peace of mind, control, power, influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always.

That’s why we created a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. You can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com if you click on the membership link if you go to intensivecaresupport.org  directly. In the membership, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in a membership area and via email, and we answer all questions intensive care related. In the membership, you also have exclusive access to 21 eBooks and 21 videos that I have personally written and recorded that will help you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always.

I also do one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation that you simply can’t afford to get wrong. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly on your behalf if that’s what you want me to do. I ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one in intensive care.

I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams.

We also do medical record reviews in real time so that you can get a second opinion in real time. We also do medical record reviews after intensive care if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are suspecting medical negligence.

All of that you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or simply send us an email to [email protected] with your questions.

If you like my video, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell, comment below what you want to see next, what questions and insights you have from this video, and share the video with your friends and families.

I also do a weekly YouTube live where I answer your questions live on a show and you will get a notification for the YouTube live if you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel, or if you are a subscriber to my intensivecarehotline.com email newsletter at intensivecarehotline.com.

Thank you so much for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I will talk to you in a few days.

Take care for now.

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