What Happens to Your Medical History When You Switch Doctors?

Why People Switch Doctors
(and why it matters for your records)

Switching doctors is a normal part of life. But transferring your medical history? That’s where
things get messy. Here are some common reasons people switch—and the risks if you don’t
manage your records properly:

1. Relocation

Moving for work, education, or personal reasons means finding a new doctor. But unless you secure your records, important details—like chronic conditions, allergies, or past treatments—can get lost in the shuffle.

2. Changing Insurance Networks

New employer, new policy, or network restrictions? Insurance changes often force you to change doctors. Without your records, your new doctor is essentially starting from scratch.

3. Unmet Expectations or Lack of Trust

Sometimes the doctor-patient relationship just doesn’t work. But switching providers without transferring records means repeating tests and re-explaining your entire history from memory.

4. Referrals to Specialists

Specialists are often outside your regular clinic or hospital system. Without a seamless record transfer, you risk redundant investigations or missing key data that could impact your diagnosis.

5. Seeking Second Opinions

When getting a second opinion—especially for serious conditions—many people rely on printed reports or email attachments. This wastes time, risks losing context, and can lead to errors.

While switching doctors is easy, transferring medical records is not always seamless in many countries, especially developing ones like India, Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems are fragmented or completely absent. Clinics, diagnostic labs, and hospitals operate in silos with no centralized system to exchange or share patient data. This means every time you switch doctors, it’s like hitting the reset button on your health history—unless you’ve taken control of your data yourself.

That’s why a digital Personal Health Record (PHR) platform like MyDigiRecords becomes
essential. It bridges the gap between healthcare providers, putting your entire health history in your hands – so switching doctors doesn’t mean starting over.

The Traditional Way: Manual Record Transfers

Here’s how record transfers usually work today:

1. You request your records from your old doctor.
2. They send them by:
   • Emailing scanned PDFs (not secure)
   • Printing physical copies (hard to manage)
   • Hospital-to-hospital transfer (only within connected networks)
3. You deliver them—via email or in person—to your new doctor.

This is slow, incomplete, and insecure.