@marye2, lioness Nice to wake up to such a good suggestion... I am overwhelmed with paperwork, filing cabinet full, desk drawer, boxes etc. and mostly from old and not so old medical files but as my memory is going, can't remember where I filed things when I need them quickly.... but sooo many papers in our files now.
I saw my last doctor for about 2 years and he put my file on usb stick when ended relationship... I decided to print as there was no index.. how can doctors these days find our test results etc. looking on computer when no index and they dont know the date? They cant always do a word search if its a report from another doctor or test result as it hasnt been typed into the computer... word search doesnt work on someone else's addition..... Anyway, 500 pages!! including half printed pages, duplicated info., pages with vert little on and errors.... now multiply that by other doctors, specialist visits .... driving me crazy. I do like getting coy of my patient file tho. and here is an example;

About a month ago i got my previous OPTOMETRIST patient file and only got around to browsing through it yesterday and discovered that during the ten years I saw her for eye exams and eyeglasses, the puff test they did on my eyes for pressure each time had readings mostly 20 and often above and up to 26 and they never told me!!!!! At the end of the ten years I was having terribly dry sore red eyes and they sent me to a new OPHTHALMOLOGIST in town....and I wondered why instead of asking me about my dry eyes specifically he hurriedly did the puffer test and immediately put me on Glaucoma drops, with a repeat prescription for 20 bottles; writing on his short report 'SUSPECTED GLAUCOMA.' I only saw this report last night, 2021 and that report was 2017 and I left that optometrist later 2017 and went to another. She never, ever, mentioned my high eye pressure. Not once. NOW high eye pressure does not mean Glaucoma and low eye pressure does not mean you dont have it... but should she not have investigated? Subsequent to leaving her I went to Toronto and top glaucoma specialist and the rest is history...His optimum reading for my eyes was 14 but current Optometrist says 20 max.

. So extra paperwork or not, good idea to ask for a copy of your patient file ...here in Ontario they have to give it to yu and whether they charge or no is up to provider...I have never been charged whether put on usb , emailed or printed and mailed... glad I did because I trusted her with my eyes... had I stayed with her, what would my vision be like now.. but there was just 'SOMETHING" about her that soured.,,although very pleasant but so glad I left when I did. J. (Ontario)