3-5. USE OF OTRs
The OTR is given to physicians and other medical personnel attending an
outpatient or inpatient clinic. When an outpatient is treated over a short period of time in
a clinic, the OTR is kept in that clinic; however, it is made available to other medical
personnel when required during this retention period. The OTR will accompany a
patient admitted to a military MTF and will be constantly available for use by the
attending physician.
a. Chargeout System. A strict audit trail is kept for OTRs temporarily out of the
OTR file. The chargeout procedures for OTRs are the same as discussed in lesson 1.
b. Protection of Medical Information. OTRs contain confidential information,
just as with other medical records. The protection of medical information is covered in
Subcourse MED753.
3-6. TRANSFERRING OTRs
Patient records should be complete. The MTF providing care should include all
outpatient forms and documents prepared in the OTR. OTRs prepared at other facilities
should also be included in the patient's OTR. When patients change residences, the
OTRs of patients that may be lost to the AMEDD system are retained by the losing MTF
and retired in accordance with the procedures covered in lesson 1 and AR 340-18. If
the sponsor is being released from military service in conjunction with the move or is
being assigned to a remote location not serviced by an Army MTF, the original will not
be given to the patient or to the sponsor. OTRs are the property of the U. S.
Government. Upon request, the patient may be given a copy of pertinent parts of his
OTR.
a. Mailing OTRs.
(1) When a patient moves, his or her OTR may be handcarried or mailed to
the next MTF. Special category records are always mailed.
(2)
When mailing an OTR to the next MTF, the following procedures are
followed:
(a) Before leaving the old station, the sponsor reports to the MTFproviding
care to his dependents. This is done as part of outprocessing. He will give the MTF the
information needed to identify the records he wants mailed.
(b) The MTF completes DD Form 2138 (Request for Transfer of Outpatient
Records) and instructs the sponsor to present the card at the next MTF. See figure 3-
1.
MD0751
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