It was ten years and one month ago that I stepped on a rock while out on one of my famous nighttime walks, rolling and breaking my left ankle. A very kind man got me into his car and drove me home, after which I was off to the Emergency Room. A few days later, I made an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon, who wanted to see the X-rays of my ankle. Sure. Simple enough, right? Just have them email me the release of records authorization form, print it out, sign it and run over to an office store and fax it back, right? No. For most people, breaking their left ankle means they can still drive. Not me. My beloved car is a manual transmission.
The medical records department of the hospital would not accept an email from me. Thus began my most recent round of frustration with the US healthcare system. Fortunately, I did have a printer, and there was fax machine in the central office. I had the form emailed to me, I printed it, signed it, scanned it in, and emailed it to the office, whereupon they faxed it for me. All from my sofa. And that’s why a fax server is in a forthcoming release of Life Backup Plan.
