Do I really have to report EVERY doctor visit?

[anonymous]

I have my medical exam coming up with a new doctor. Old doctor always said not to bother listing routine visits with my family doctor. New doctor seems a bit more intense on the subject. He wouldn't say which visits could be skipped but he did say that he had to have doctors notes on all visits. If I had an annual physical with my family doctor I have to bring all the results of that.

What is the general rule for deciding whether or not to include a doctor visit when you go for your medical?

 

[murphey]

If an FAA medical, then routine visits not needed, e.g. dentist for a cleaning and checkup, family doctor for annual checkup. But, if something like an unexpected trip to the FP for the flu or any time a medication is prescribed should be reported. Most visits to a specialists should reported, e g. I had 1 kidney stone years ago and see the specialist once a year for checkup. They send thr report to my FP, he reports "no recurrence and annual test is negative" and we leave it like that for the AME, who's quite happy.

Read the fine print on MedXpress for what is reportable and what isn't.

remind the new doctor they can contact your other medical professionals and request copies of your history. You have to sign a release, tho. This is Dr Bruce's approach, even when I brought letters and such with me.

 

[denverpilot]

Listing all visits is because FAA has you sign that you give them access to the insurance databases. They’ll know you went and you didn’t report it. That can bring additional scrutiny.

You just include them all or the form hasn’t been filled out correctly.

Once it’s reported, as mentioned in their instructions, it can be listed as PRNC. “Previously reported, no change.”, next visit.

As far as the new doc wanting all your results and records from your family doc, there’s no need for the doc to have that information technically, or to send any of it to FAA unless certain criteria were hit, but different styles for different AMEs.

Ask him why, is the easiest answer to your question. It’s your medical... you probably want to understand the thought process of the person doing it before hiring them to do anything for you, just like any other service.

 

[murphey]

I disagree with Nate's explanation that all visits must be reported...MedXpress is very clear and specific what does not need to be reported. True, it's in the fine print, but it's there.

"Occasional common illnesses such as colds or sore throats that resolved;
Routine dental, eye, and FAA periodic medical examinations; or
Consultations with your employer-sponsored employee assistance program (EAP) unless the consultations were for substance abuse or unless the consultations resulted in referral for psychiatric evaluation or treatment."

 

[lbfjrmd]

list 'em all ... it is just 4 past 3 years. I review them with you and ...that is 'usually' it ... most of the time!

 

[denverpilot]

I disagree with Nate's explanation that all visits must be reported...MedXpress is very clear and specific what does not need to be reported. True, it's in the fine print, but it's there.

"Occasional common illnesses such as colds or sore throats that resolved;
Routine dental, eye, and FAA periodic medical examinations; or
Consultations with your employer-sponsored employee assistance program (EAP) unless the consultations were for substance abuse or unless the consultations resulted in referral for psychiatric evaluation or treatment."

Well, yes... reading the instructions does help. I was assuming the OP was talking within the bounds of what the form actually asks for.

Plus nowadays the doc will often prescribe something on the banned list and you’ll be self-grounded for a while anyway, if you have any sort of cold or whatever that is bad enough to visit a doc. (I suppose there’s people who go for the sniffles, but I don’t.)

So reporting the visit is easier along with the drug. “See Dr visit XX/YY/ZZZZ”. Gives the whole story that way for whomever is reading this junk at the bureaucracy.

 

[steingar]

I report them all. All 2 visits every 2 Years.

 

[bbchien]

You can lump all visit to the same Dr. on one line so long as in the "comments" you list the dates and the "what fors".

The instructions say licensed healthcare professional- that's pretty clear. In reality nobody cares about the dentist visits- but you should list them all eveni f compressed. Medxpress runs out at 21 lines of Dr. Visits, so by combining each doc onto one line (Heck, its' a subpoena address anyway) you can get it done.

If there is an issue, they can get all the diagnosis, procedure and pharmacy codes, though not what was thought. So you'd better have it on the application.