Incremental Progress

My health-care providers have been so gracious throughout this process, filling out endless forms. I've spent about $600 and so far have been reimbursed about $45. Another, much larger, reimbursement check was mistakenly sent to my doctor, whom I had already paid in full myself. The check-processing company just got it wrong.

The medical forms are not well-designed for the purpose of eliciting the kind of information I've had to supply after the fact. The Peace Corps expects applicants to disclose everything, yet that is clearly a formidable demand when you've lived for 57 years. I found I'd overlooked a common chronic condition because it was stable for over 30 years, a more recent surgery that had been routine, issues that had been resolved and forgotten, and minor complaints that were treated without prescription medications. Re-examining the forms now, I can see why they were missed. I was focused on that which was explicitly requested, drawing in my mind the limits of what "everything" was much more strictly than was actually expected. It was not that I had any reason to hide or protect any of this information. I was merely in the habit of doing so, and habit involves the unconscious mind.

We who have been discreet and private about personal information for all of our lives are especially unprepared for how thoroughly we must "undress" for the medical review. As a former Information Architect, I believe that a lot of time and agony for volunteers and reviewers alike could be saved through a more intelligent design of these forms.

Will the Peace Corps put its medical records into a computer? It's very likely that Mr. Obama's determination to put this country's medical records into electronic form will impact Federal agencies like the Corps in the next few years. Let's hope that whoever takes on the responsibility for collecting applicant medical information will do a good job of designing these instruments.