Medical Films

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(14 posts) (12 voices)

Started 9 months ago by Vivace
Latest reply from bandicoot
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Vivace
Member

I'm not sure "sentimental" is the best description for these, but as I don't keep them in the kitchen or the bedroom...

I had a series of surgeries over the last eighteen months. Pre and post-op, there were a variety of scans and every time I visited with the surgeon to discuss the results of these scans, there was an envelope of them I was left to bring home. I've never even pulled them out to look at them. They're all different sizes; if they fit in my file box I'd be more inclined to keep them. But one set's eighteen inches tall, and most of them are fourteen. Right now I have them slid between a shelf and a wall, but I'm moving.

So. Is it okay to trash them? Should I shred them or something first? Should I clear it with my doctor before I do that? (My last visit resulted in a clean bill of health for the trouble area.) I don't really know what to do with them.

Posted 9 months ago #
jmhva
Member

I would toss them. Hospitals now have films on discs that can be accessed from the MD's office without having to have the actual films. Also hospitals keep copies for some time (not sure how long your hosp. would keep them). Also drs ofc's now can link directly to the radiology dept and see the actual films.
Glad you are well. Toss them!

JH, RN

Posted 9 months ago #
Another Deb
Member

I would ask my doctor about them first. A Biology teacher may want them. You can always remove your name from the film or cover it with a Sharpie.

Posted 9 months ago #
pkilmain
Member

I would ask the doctor and/or the hospital whether the material can be recycled. And @jmhva, not all hospitals/labs have digital scanning yet. I wouldn't automatically assume that these scans are available to your doctor in digital form.

Posted 9 months ago #
Laetitia in Australia
Member

Clear it with your doctor first. The other thing to consider, particularly if your move means you'll need to get a new doctor, is that it helps to give your medical history to future people who treat you. I had to dig out my old scans when I had another guided fine needle aspiration on a cyst in my breast (same location, same cyst that had been tested 10 or 11 years ago, still all ok).

Posted 9 months ago #
needtocleanhouse
Member

For myself I would keep them. They would be important enough to me to want to keep my own copy. And I agree with Laetitia in Australia that if your move means getting a new doctor that giving them your medical history/records would be helpful.

Posted 9 months ago #
ninakk
Member

I would ask my current doctor and if they say the films are not important for you to keep since they have the originals, I'd shred them. If those are the originals, however, I'd save them for the next doctor to archive.

Posted 9 months ago #
Mimi
Member

i have scanned them. it works! you can show your scanned films to different doctors even in 100 years and don´t have to store them pysically.

Posted 9 months ago #
Vivace
Member

Thanks for all the advice. I'll definitely check in with my doctor and see what she thinks I should do with them.

(Some of my MRI results did come on a CD instead of on actual film! I wish that was standard, it'd be much easier to store.)

Posted 9 months ago #
Laetitia in Australia
Member

Vivace - I store mine flat on a shelf in a cupboard. When I move I take them with me in the car I travel in. If I were going to the other side of the country and flying, I'd put them flat towards the bottom of one of the moving boxes with flat things above and below or between flat things like framed pictures or inside the lid of one of my wooden boxes so they wouldn't get bent.

Posted 9 months ago #
mobrien_century
Member

Laetitia - You can also find local Australian companies online who will convert all of your medical film into what is called DICOM images on CD. DICOM is just the industry standard for digital radiology film images. Costs can vary but since they are just your personal films, it could be affordable and quick... at least that way you wouldn't have to worry about the films degrading if you want to hang on to them. Hope this is helpful!

Matt O'Brien
Account Executive
Century Document Imaging
http://www.centurydocumentimaging.com

Posted 9 months ago #
Trish
Member

If you decide to let them go, your doctor should be able to recycle them. (That's what we do at the clinic that I work at when we're purging old files)

Posted 9 months ago #
Astreja
Member

Ditto what Trish says about recycling the films -- The silver used in the films can be recovered. It's also a good option from a confidentiality point-of-view, and much easier than trying to run them through a shredder.

Posted 9 months ago #
bandicoot
Member

my films are all broken-leg-related.
they are huge....and we had to haul them home from paris (unclutterer souvenir).
i am TOTALLY getting them scanned when i get home....i have no proper place to keep them and they have to be moved around all the time.
i better keep copies of them in case the metal screws and plate have to come out of my leg one day.
thanks for the scanning tip!

Posted 9 months ago #

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