On occasion I have had a family ask for records to be transferred to a different physician's office. Sometimes because of a change in insurance plans but other times because they felt that their children's health would benefit from this change. It always hurts a bit when this happens but as I grow older it doesn't seem to bother me as much. Many times a parent who's child's full chart was copied and sent will call in the following months or year for an appointment. These are not children who have moved and come back but who were for one reason or another unhappy with our office care in the past. Am I obligated to see them? Is the transfer of records in itself an end to my medical obligations when they show up in the ER and list me as their pediatrician? Does anybody send a letter to the families wishing them well and stating that with this transfer of records you will no longer be available as their pediatrician? Surely this happens elsewhere. Thanks Kim Burlingham, MD