Tips on making a medical records folder

Posted by hbcupcake @hbcupcake, Apr 25 3:11pm

Does anyone have a good strategy for keeping all of their records on paper to give to new doctors? I have doctors who don't use My Chart and some that do. I'm printing things out so I have them when I arrive at NJH. I have scans on cd and all kinds of information that live in "the pile" at my house but I need to get organized.

Thanks in advance!

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@sueinmn

I download all my chart results, notes,visits,etc to .pdf files and offer a memory stick to practitioners in place of reams of paper. They are in folders based on test results, primary care and body part(s) or specialist. I carefully rename each file to clearly note the date and topic.
If I get paper records, I scan them, save as .pdf's and do the same. I also keep a file in another folder listing all current and past medications-I use a spreadsheet, list med by generic and brand name, purpose, when and by whom prescribed, dosages, any reactions, when stopped... I include all OTC and supplements too.
Everything fits on a memory stick , is easily updated, and I can give it to any clinician and make a new one for under $5. NO PAPER, NO FILING,EASY!

I store all insurance and Medicare claims and doctor bills in another set of folders, but do not share on memory stick. And if I have any disputes, I can keep a word file of all contacts there too

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I also maintain electronic .pdf files in categorized folders withe the date as part of yhe title for easy sorting. I scan all Rx, blood, ct/other reports, Sadly finding dr’s who care to review is another story. They most frequently want a synopsis and latest info ( thus the date in the title of the file).

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@sueinmn

I download all my chart results, notes,visits,etc to .pdf files and offer a memory stick to practitioners in place of reams of paper. They are in folders based on test results, primary care and body part(s) or specialist. I carefully rename each file to clearly note the date and topic.
If I get paper records, I scan them, save as .pdf's and do the same. I also keep a file in another folder listing all current and past medications-I use a spreadsheet, list med by generic and brand name, purpose, when and by whom prescribed, dosages, any reactions, when stopped... I include all OTC and supplements too.
Everything fits on a memory stick , is easily updated, and I can give it to any clinician and make a new one for under $5. NO PAPER, NO FILING,EASY!

I store all insurance and Medicare claims and doctor bills in another set of folders, but do not share on memory stick. And if I have any disputes, I can keep a word file of all contacts there too

Jump to this post

RE: Our need for record keeping.
At this point in time all the doctors I have seen are on Epic/My Chart. All my med's and supplements are in the Epic/MyChart. What I have done is keep a CD of all the CScan I have had for my BE to have for the doctor, if needed.
I am on Medicare with Supplement (G Plan) so after my deductible, so far, I have not had to pay attention to what is or is not being paid.
What I have had to do is bring to the attention of the doctor information that may have not been documented/shown correctly on the after summary visit.
From my experience it appears keeping records will be most important if a patient is seeing a doctor who is not in or using Epic/MyChart. The record keeping appears, in many cases and instances, is more for ourselves more than for the doctors who generally do not look so much at all previous information just what is most recent. The tech's review all the information in the system with me to see if there are any changes, to reconfirm all before the doctor comes in.

How do you do all that record keeping, storing of information, on top of all we have to do for ourselves (Therapy 2x a day) and all else needing to be done in the day, week, month!
I must not be seeing clearly the need for all the record keeping? Help.
Barbara

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@blm1007blm1007

RE: Our need for record keeping.
At this point in time all the doctors I have seen are on Epic/My Chart. All my med's and supplements are in the Epic/MyChart. What I have done is keep a CD of all the CScan I have had for my BE to have for the doctor, if needed.
I am on Medicare with Supplement (G Plan) so after my deductible, so far, I have not had to pay attention to what is or is not being paid.
What I have had to do is bring to the attention of the doctor information that may have not been documented/shown correctly on the after summary visit.
From my experience it appears keeping records will be most important if a patient is seeing a doctor who is not in or using Epic/MyChart. The record keeping appears, in many cases and instances, is more for ourselves more than for the doctors who generally do not look so much at all previous information just what is most recent. The tech's review all the information in the system with me to see if there are any changes, to reconfirm all before the doctor comes in.

How do you do all that record keeping, storing of information, on top of all we have to do for ourselves (Therapy 2x a day) and all else needing to be done in the day, week, month!
I must not be seeing clearly the need for all the record keeping? Help.
Barbara

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Actually, as soon as I get the MyChart notification (or whichever system - my docs use 3 different ones!) I download the files as I described in an earlier post. It only takes a few minutes.
As a retired computer professional, my concern I that some big crash or hack could compromise those online records, and everyone would be scrambling to reconstruct. It's pretty easy to keep a copy on my laptop and another on a little thumb drive. And no trees are killed in the process.

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@sueinmn

Actually, as soon as I get the MyChart notification (or whichever system - my docs use 3 different ones!) I download the files as I described in an earlier post. It only takes a few minutes.
As a retired computer professional, my concern I that some big crash or hack could compromise those online records, and everyone would be scrambling to reconstruct. It's pretty easy to keep a copy on my laptop and another on a little thumb drive. And no trees are killed in the process.

Jump to this post

yes, memory is cheap and big and easy to use and copy and transport
these days.
Amazing the development for us old computer people who had
watched it from the beginning

I also have a big file, sort of diary, where I write all my small symptoms
and how I slept and other medical things and observations.
Way too big and too scetchy to show it to doctors who have not
the time to read it.
But it's good for keyword-search, e.g. when you want to know
when a new symptom first appeared.
Then I use it to make charts of my weight over time, or frequency of
certain symptoms over time etc.

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