Have you ever thought about your own personal healthcare record? Where is your healthcare record? Is it in 5 different places? Is it in one place? Is it shared? Who has access to it? Have you ever really stopped and thought about your healthcare record?
Where is it?
Personally, I try to stay in the same healthcare system. Most have a portal that physicians and staff can access that can help my doctors understand me more as a patient. For example; can my OB-GYN see that I had a mammogram that was ordered by my primary care physician? Those things are important to me. Especially if the results are shared. But really…where is your healthcare record? What do you consider the “main” record, and where is it located? If you wanted your COMPLETE healthcare record, where would you go to get it?
What you can do
I have taken control of my entire health record. I have copies of records from every physician I visit. I have it scanned electronically, and secured in both electronic and hard copy. I compare notes, read every word, and sometimes even challenge the decisions. You need to take control of your health records, and pay attention to them. I have good doctors. Actually, I have GREAT doctors but that doesn’t mean I don’t take control of my healthcare records.
So where is your healthcare record? Would you know where it is if you had to pull it all together?
Just something to think about…