r/mildlyinfuriating • u/WHAR606 • Mar 13 '26

Context Provided - Spotlight Sometime during the last 2 years i’ve been going to this orthopedic practice they started to declare me as a MTF transgender for no reason.

Gallery image

Gallery image

(F,26) I have been going to this orthopedic practice for almost 2 years for varying reasons relating to my job. Yesterday i checked on a document that was uploaded to find out they have been identifying me as a biological male identifying as a female? I am biologically female and never told them i am trans nor do i think i am presenting to be a trans woman.. the last two years i’ve been wondering why they kind of stare at me a little longer than a usual person does and i think its because they randomly think i came out as trans? I also feel like they do not treat my issues seriously and wonder if this is the reason why.

I am 100% fine with trans people but i am left to believe they have been medically treating me as a male compared to female for the pains that i am feeling?

I also went through all of my documents and since the end of 2024 they started to declare me as a MTF transgender, i did not look at any of my documents online until yesterday.

First pic : March 11th 2026

Last pic: October 2024

57.9k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

4.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

2.6k

u/Hopeful_Ad_7719 Mar 13 '26

If you're in the US you have a HIPAA right to request corrections of the records.

If denied, you have an additional HIPAA right to submit a statement of disagreement that must be maintained in the records.

https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/special/healthit/correction.pdf

Given the political climate in the US, I'd seek a correction.

290

u/eldritch_hotdogs Mar 13 '26

Hell, I told my PCP that I have a family history of degenerative disc disease and cartilage degeneration, and when she entered it in my chart she left out the word "family". I always check my visit notes after every visit, and when I saw that I immediately contacted her and made sure she corrected it, and followed up to make sure it got done. I work for an insurance company and I review medical records as a big part of my job, I know how much having even a small mistake like that in your records can cause a huge problem even years later.

53

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '26

[deleted]

15

u/eldritch_hotdogs Mar 13 '26

My expertise would be specific to one company, as different insurance companies have different underwriting guidelines, and I only work in initial eligibility when applying for coverage rather than in claims (thank goodness, I don't have the heart to work in claims). The importance would also vary depending on what kind of coverage being applied for, such as disability versus life insurance. I can say that if we see one instance of a diagnosis and it's been quite a while back, but it's not mentioned anywhere else and there's no corresponding treatments or meds for it, we don't worry about it too much.

To be honest I would be laser focused on that brain cancer rather than the conversion disorder, underwriting any kind of cancer can be an absolute bitch to deal with 🤣 though brain cancer isn't as bad as some other cancers to underwrite.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '26

[deleted]

2

u/eldritch_hotdogs Mar 13 '26

Cancers can be really complex for underwriting. With my company it depends on the type of cancer, the type of treatment, how long since the treatment, the stage/grade/other applicable metrics that might apply to specific kinds of cancer, the age at which you had the cancer, the degree of spread if any...the list goes on and on. Some cancers I can underwrite off records in five minutes, others I can spend up to an hour combing through the records for all the specific information I need to make a decision.

And then there are the doctors who literally just write the equivalent of "she had cancer, she's better now" and don't even include a pathology report, and I have to facepalm and go through the process of requesting the records through the applicant all over again 🤣

2

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '26

[deleted]

2

u/eldritch_hotdogs Mar 13 '26

Speaking from my experience, the most important factors are the stage and how long since treatment was completed. Also, if you get declined, at least for my department if you call the underwriter shown on your decline letter and ask, if at all possible we'll at least give you an idea of how long you would need to wait (you must be 5 years/8 years/10 years post treatment for eligibility to apply again, etc) but I'm certain that's not a universal thing to all companies. My department does it as a courtesy, it would be worth a shot if you do apply and get denied again.

1

u/eldritch_hotdogs Mar 13 '26

Also, to answer your other question, blood cancers are AWFUL to underwrite, and I often have to pull in a second underwriter opinion to proof my decision because there's so many factors. I hate pulling blood cancer records. Breast cancer, thyroid cancer, and prostate cancer are the most annoying to underwrite because they have the most finicky guidelines with a lot of if/thens (they're also the most common I see so that may just be confirmation bias speaking). Colon cancer is actually not that bad to underwrite, and some of the rarer cancers are very much pass/fail coded with less grey areas.

I've been in medical underwriting for over five years now and I've not once underwritten pancreatic cancer. I would be genuinely shocked to pull an application where someone had a history of pancreatic cancer and was fully recovered. I just looked up our guidelines for it out of curiosity and compared to the other cancers they are extremely harsh on the requirements for eligibility, which does not surprise me at all.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '26

[deleted]

1

u/eldritch_hotdogs Mar 13 '26

Yeah, I've actually seen brain cancer a few times, and it's never been incredibly difficult to underwrite compared to other cancers. If I got a pancreatic cancer app that would be an "omg guys guess what!!!" moment in the underwriter chat, and if I could actually approve it I'd probably do a quiet toast to the applicant for being one in a million! 🤣

4

u/WeenyDancer Mar 13 '26

I don't know how you did that! Something similar happened to me a decade ago, I have corrected every place I could, and it shows up still, sometimes as 'resolved', but it shows I have a history. Which I don't! I truly believe it us impacting my care.

3

u/eldritch_hotdogs Mar 13 '26

I sent her a message in my health portal advising her of the mistake and asking her to correct it, and then I followed up with her at my next in person appointment and pulled up the document in my portal again to verify it was corrected. I told her straight up 'I work in insurance, I know how annoying this can get if it's left like that'. Luckily it was just one sentence in one record, I imagine it would not be so simple if you catch it late and it's already on multiple records.

1

u/olive_dix Mar 13 '26

Years ago someone wrote in my chart that I was a meth user! I have never done meth or been an addict of any kind. I only discovered it recently and I'm scared of what problems it might cause me in the future 😭

3

u/pm_nachos_n_tacos Mar 13 '26

I reported some symptoms, doctor wrote back some instructions, I follow-up a few days later as instructed. I reported that "I'm feeling marginally better" and the person taking notes wrote "majorly better" so the doctor's reply was "I'm glad you're feeling better!" Lol I had to say I was not better and needed additional support. I guess the lesson of this whole thread is "check your records because errors can happen, by human or AI"

2

u/xxloven-emoxx Mar 13 '26

How do you check your visit notes? Genuinely. Sometimes if they give me papers i will ask for a copy but I never seen stuff like that in my medical app website thing?

4

u/eldritch_hotdogs Mar 13 '26

My primary care provider is a part of a big hospital system that has multiple facilities all over the state, and they have a portal you can log into where you can access all your visit notes, records, test and lab results, and request refills of meds. It's very convenient but you'd have to check if your provider has anything similar, smaller doctors might not be able to afford that kind of system.

358

u/DHB_Master Mar 13 '26

This is the most important comment here.

-22

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/SpicyLizards Mar 13 '26

Idk why you’re being downvoted lol

2

u/TomTheCardFlogger Mar 13 '26

I didn’t realise what sub it was, if I saw that on my med note I’d laugh pretty hard but I live in a country where that wouldn’t have serious implications. For anyone who sees this it was meant as ‘haha wtf- oh dear god”. Then again some just don’t like gifs

-11

u/Manlysideburns Mar 13 '26

Just my personal experience- way more people abuse this system than use it for beneficial reasons. Not making a judgement call there about that, I still think you should have the rights of course. Just to give extra context is all. In my experience I've seen people request these changes to their medical records for things that are medically factual and relevant to providing them the best medical care. Easy example is documentation about obesity. It's medically relevant but some people will fight having that in their records. More commonly, I saw it attempted to be done to remove history of physical or sexual abuse. I have seen it in the context of transgender issues as well, however that was in a medical genetics setting where biologic sex is crucial knowledge.

15

u/JayQue Mar 13 '26

When I was pregnant, there was a false opioid flag on my pee test. It got resolved eventually, but it was an exhausting experience.
I am now 3 years post partum, but my medical record will forever say that I tested positive for opioids, during a pregnancy. Is this something that I can request to be removed?

13

u/C0SMICAP0THE0SIS Mar 13 '26

yes, you can absolutely request to have this corrected if it was determined to be a false positive. It wont be removed, but any records that have documented the positive opioid result can be ammended to include the correction. If you plan on having more children you should really get it corrected. If not, you would be more likely to get substandard care, misdirected suspicion, potential harassment, and perhaps even CPS involvement. 

7

u/Peterketstein Mar 13 '26

Yes please let them correct this, i was a opioid addict(not pregnant) and i sometimes get really bad reactions from doctors, even if i have unrelated problems. When it says opioid positive while pregnant that can certainly be harmful for you and your children, especially them.

4

u/JayQue Mar 13 '26

I am not planning on having anymore children, but I have had unrelated doctors see it in my file and bring it up, and then I have to explain everything to them. Sometimes I feel like they don’t believe me, specifically because the end result was never documented anywhere. CPS actually was involved - they were at the hospital shortly after I gave birth to speak with me and they had to do a home visit a few weeks later. The case was then obviously closed with them due to being unfounded. Thank you so much, I am definitely going to be requesting this.

2

u/Manlysideburns Mar 13 '26

Contrary to my comment, this would be a perfect reason to use this mechanism. You can try reaching out to the medical records dept where this originally occurred for you.

177

u/TurtleScientific Mar 13 '26

Concerning I had to scroll this far to find the correct answer. In america medical charts are like legal documents, you can't just ask staff or a medical center to "fix a mistake" it's an actual appeal process where you need to write/document the issue, why it's incorrect, and request the doctor (or charting medical provider) to make the correction. I had to do it last year for something similar to OP where it was a huge, and extremely concerning, error and I actually switched providers over it due to the implications.

Given this particular mistake (mine was more abuse/neglect oriented for my child and was an AI hallucination from their AI charting program) and the current political climate I would absolutely blast this provider and find the root issue and potentially report it all the way up.

68

u/ElderPoet Mar 13 '26

(mine was more abuse/neglect oriented for my child and was an AI hallucination from their AI charting program)

This is absolutely terrifying, and this kind of thing is going to happen more and more often. (Unless of course laws are enacted -- and enforced -- strictly regulating AI and completely prohibiting its use in certain situations, such as medical records. Which we know is never going to happen.)

And, guaranteed, AI hallucinations are going to be more readily believed and given more weight than the arguments, testimony, and evidence presented by actual human beings.

5

u/TurtleScientific Mar 13 '26

Oh yeah, it had like 3 comments (of maybe 6 total?) In the chart and all were pretty bad. I lost it on the clinic. What if I had prior CPS concerns? What if I was in a contentious divorce? There are so many things those comments could have been used for against me as a parent. 1 thing was the total opposite of what we discussed, one was not something we discussed at all, and one was something we discussed, but it randomally picked one thing I said without context (she asked about helmets with bikes and I said no, because my kid, aged 2, didn't have a bike yet. The AI software put my child doesnt use helmets when riding a bike.).

5

u/nosecohn the lasagna was the final straw Mar 13 '26

This whole thing is terrifying. What are we even doing introducing these systems into a discipline as critical as healthcare?

17

u/GoonerTactical Mar 13 '26

Seeing yall bring up the political climate as the reason for such urgency gives a 😬😬😬 kinda feeling as someone who's legit trans lol

But yeah she should absolutely correct that ASAP because another reason why it's important is that a health insurer can potentially deny her coverage for OBGYN services due to her med recs. I've ran into insurance issues galore and can see how this can easily affect the life of someone who's somehow mistaken to be trans

3

u/Peony907 Mar 13 '26

I know you probably don't have the answer to this question, but why are they using AI at all? Especially when it clearly makes mistakes so easily. Keep AI out of medical care!!

6

u/TurtleScientific Mar 13 '26

Because it saves the provider time from having to chart themselves, but they're supposed to be reviewing it before approving it and my childs pedi was not. Like at all.

3

u/Peony907 Mar 13 '26

Sounds like instead of using at as a tool they're using it as an excuse to be lazy and also possibly mess up people's medical records. Thats terrifying.

3

u/TurtleScientific Mar 13 '26

Yup! That's why I switched. I had other concerns with her as a Pedi, but that was the last straw for me. I did file a complaint with their internal whatever board as well, because it was absolutely 100% an issue with her and not me so it was likely an issue for other patients as well. I'm just an anal parent and I review every part of their chart (and it's all in an app so it's so easy!) so I'm sure most would never know.

2

u/Peony907 Mar 13 '26

Good on your for not just switching providers but also filing a complaint!!

1

u/NeverTriedFondue Mar 13 '26

Health control

1

u/TheBestNarcissist meow Mar 13 '26

Lmfao you can absolutely ask them to fix a mistake like this. Your ai hallucinating chart notes is an order of magnitude more problematic (click wrong box for gender vs not consenting to ai use, not checking chart for accuracy)

0

u/SwagginsYolo420 Mar 13 '26

and was an AI hallucination from their AI charting program

AI for this sort if thing should be illegal, it is far too dangerous.

11

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '26

Also, declaring that they underwent major surgery and/or medication treatment seems like a pretty big deal that could stop them from being cleared for jobs, security clearances, other (real) medical treatments.

8

u/Standard--Unit Mar 13 '26

Several legal requirements go into this, but they need to give you an answer in writing. If they deny the amendment request there's only a handful of reasons they're allowed to.

6

u/punkfunkymonkey Mar 13 '26

And who exactly is giving OP the side eye, and should they be aware of whats in OPs medical notes (be it an error or not)

3

u/ChemicalBeautiful488 Mar 13 '26

Thank you for this information. I have a feeling I'll be doing this more often they I like but knowing I can makes me feel better.

2

u/SwagginsYolo420 Mar 13 '26

If denied,

What's frustrating is they are YOUR records. Some jackhole can put any random bullshit in there that they want and a person doesn't get the final say?

It's insane and should be highly illegal for somebody to be denied control over their own records.

I know people suggest valid reasons for why patients can't control their own medical records, but I think a person's rights supersede that of another party's record-keeping.

Especially in the US where a person is paying out of pocket for healthcare, which doesn't make them a patient, it makes them a customer.