Stay in Control of Your Health – Organize!
Stay in Control of Your Health – Organize!
Some of us love to organize. We have files, boxes, files in boxes and personal organizers. Some have chaos in our organizing, but our chaos is organized.
Have you taken time to organize health information for you or your family?
Emergencies are difficult. Today healthcare can be splintered over many physicians, hospitals, outpatient therapies, pharmacies and home care. If you call an ambulance they may take you to an unfamiliar hospital for a life threatening event.
Health emergencies can be easier, less chaotic and more organized when you have your important health information readily accessible for emergency and healthcare providers.
When you grab your Health Organizer, you won’t be running for pill bottles, trying to remember medication doses or your physicians phone number while the 911 team is throwing questions at you or you are pacing in the Emergency room.
Here are tips on getting Health Organized…
Prioritize Your Information
Even if you don’t have an Organizer (but after reading this I know you will!)… you can prioritize your health information on paper and have it available for emergencies. This will also help avoid errors in your care.
Always keep the originals. Bring a new copy every time you go to the hospital. Anything placed in your medical chart will go to Medical Records and will not be available next admission in time to review for an emergency.
1st Priority (NOW!)
Medical conditions (especially Hepatitis, TB, HIV)
Allergies (medications, dyes and food)
Medications (and doses)
DNR Status
Medical Power of Attorney
Medical equipment in your body (AICD/defibrillator, pacemaker, insulin pump)
Immunizations (particularly children)
2nd Priority (at the hospital)
Names of doctors treating you (and phone number)
Internal devices (mediports, broviacs, dialysis catheters)
Recent labs or test results (particularly coumadin levels, or WBC or Platelets if you are on chemo)
Blood type
Directed Blood Donors
3rd Priority (at the hospital)
Treatment plans
Insurance information
Caregiver information
Homecare information
Rehab Services
Previous Rehabilitation facilities
Special Needs (disabilities, out of town, religious, dietary, etc)
Anything else your medical/nursing team needs to know
Get a Health Organizer
Don’t worry how to create an organizer. There are excellent ones in the market that have everything you need, even flash drives.
My favorites…
DocFolios
www.medfolios.com
includes forms for doctor information, appointments, exams, tests/procedures, insurance and medicine. You can customize your DocFolio with additional health related sections specific information to a health condition
Your Personal Health & Medical History
www.healthhistory.com
For individuals and the whole family. Includes forms for Advance directives, Do Not Hospitalize order, Organ Donation, and other legal forms.
Mar’age Personal Health Journals
www.marageinc.com
A Personal Health Journal and a Caregiver Journal. They also have ‘myICEkey’: a Flash drive with your medical information that you can carry. (I advise to print it 1-2x a year to have it on paper.) Never leave the Flash drive with your doctor or hospital personnel – you may not get it back!
Homemade Journal
A 3 ring binder (1 ½ – 2 inches), 8-10 dividers, Business card holder, half page folders, notebook paper
You can create your own forms: Personal information, Contact information (caregivers, friends, physicians, hospitals, pharmacy, homecare, etc), medical and health information, calendar (for information or treatments), Advanced Directives, medications and Allergies, treatment information, doctor visit notes, labs and tests, insurance information, homecare/therapy information, Resources, blank paper for notes.
Or download forms from “The Caregiver’s Organizer’ created by Central Massachusetts Family Caregiver Support Program, at: http://www.seniorconnection.org/pdf/caregivers_oranizer?English)organizer.pdf
You can never be 100% prepared for an emergency. Having the right information for emergency response providers can insure that we don’t miss important information. It is the best way for you to communicate with health personnel and your personal health decision maker in the event you can’t tell us important information.
Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved Friedman Certified Legal Nurse Consultants, LLC. No copies or portions of this article may be reprinted without permission from Friedman Certified Legal Nurse Consultants, LLC.
Related posts:
- Take Control of Your Personal Dental Care
- First priority is to support heart health (with photos) – health, health care, maintenance – Medical
- Staying in Control of the Flolan Treatment Process
- Yang Yun Xuan Museum Real Green Health Health
- Using Your Health Savings Account to Become CEO of Your Own Health Care
