Medical records justify everything doctors do or don't do. Medical records are the key to winning appeals, arbitrations and lawsuits. HMO lawyers teach HMO bureaucrats and doctors how to use the HMO poison pen to write medical records that favor them, whether the statements are true or untrue. HMOs maintain files on patients in addition to their official medical records. HMOs maintain medical records under the auspices of HMO lawyers.
Legal privilege prevents patient access.
All this happened to us. That's why my book and website contains documents for patients to complete and place in their HMO medical files. State laws exist to force HMOs and HMO doctors to produce records. Enforcing these laws is virtually impossible, because HMOs often co-opt regulatory agencies that by law are supposed to protect patients. Federal and state regulators follow the money and leave government to go to work for HMOs.