As any family caregiver knows, keeping track of your loved one’s (and your) medical information can feel like a daunting task. If you’ve found yourself frantically searching for the latest lab report as you’re rushing out the door for yet another doctor’s appointment, you’re not alone. No doubt all of the doctors’ notes, hospital records, lab reports, and medication summaries might easily fill several file cabinets. The key when sorting and filing this information is to know what records you need to keep and how to store them so they are available to you or someone you trust quickly and easily. If you’re looking for a convenient, easily accessible tool that can be updated regularly with a minimal investment of time, there’s no better solution than a three-ring binder.
Begin by making a copy of all insurance ID cards for both primary and any secondary insurance you or your family member have. Make a separate tab for all the major doctors your family member sees and file each report under that doctor’s name in chronological order (with the latest dates on top). Update the binder after each new appointment. This will allow you to have the latest medical information available at a moment’s notice. And don’t forget to purge any information that may no longer be relevant to your family member’s immediate care. This paperwork can be stored in a separate file.
You can use the contents of the binder to prepare for doctors’ visits, a trip to the ER, or for someone else who may be caring for your family member when you are away. “The only appropriate method to maintain medical records is to file them in a way that would allow you to pass them on to someone else,” says Mike Klatzkin, a Maryland CPA who is also the father of a special needs child. “It’s like having insurance, even though the hope is that you will never need to use it. You can gain enormous piece of mind by being prepared for someone else to take over your loved one’s care — whether it’s for a few hours, a week of respite, or, if need be, indefinitely.”
The medical record binder is also a great tool for gaining respect from healthcare professionals. By bringing it with you to doctors’ appointments, it shows that you are prepared for the visit and it allows you to review with the physician the history of your loved one’s care and to apply that knowledge going forward.
Create a one- to two-page summary sheet that includes a detailed medical diagnosis, information on current medications, surgeries and therapies, etc., and keep that sheet in the front of the binder. Remember to include a description of your family member’s current physical and mental functioning. This is particularly helpful if you are seeing a new physician or if there’s been a change in your family member’s condition since your last visit. For example, the physicians and other healthcare providers who care for your family member need to know if he/she has recently suffered a new injury or experienced an exacerbation of a condition that affects his/her ability to interact with others.
Each time you visit your loved one’s primary physician, request a copy of the report that is generated from the visit and use this information to update your loved one’s summary sheet. When putting the summary together, think about what you would want to share with an emergency room physician should your loved one ever require emergency care. “No one can rely on memories to relate stories that are clear, concise, and complete,” says Klatzkin. “Having a summary sheet makes communication much more effective, especially during critical times.”
You can help ensure that when it comes to your loved one's medical care, you are viewed as an equal participant in the process. The road to becoming a better medical consumer begins with an organized system for maintaining and sharing your medical records.
I have been doing this for years with my mother’s information. It makes it easier to provide care when everything is organized. I also keep other legal and organizational items in another binder. I found great self-help software for caregivers that has 85 easy to fill out documents that covers everything. It has documents that cover medical matters, personal information, small business related information, Children and pat matters and estate documents. I bought it at www.livingsmartsoftware.com
Posted by: Steve Steurer | 05/26/2010 at 11:47 AM