Today’s post comes from Kimberly Hassmer, owner of Organized Advocacy. Be sure to contact her if you think a binder like this would be helpful for you or a loved one!
Medical Record Keeping
Here are the 5 Ws of having a medical binder with everything organized and ready for providers and caregivers.
Who can benefit from a well-organized Medical binder?
Anyone that utilizes multiple specialists or feels that their paperwork overwhelms them on a regular basis. Senior Citizens and/or their caregivers can absolutely benefit from the use of a binder. It is a living document that can change as necessary when medications, health summary or provider contact information changes.
What do you keep and what do you get rid of?
As a rule, departure documents, lab work, clinic notes and testing older than a year can be shredded or kept in a different location. Current health summaries, medication lists, surgical or hospitalization timelines and therapy evaluations are all important to keep in your binder.
When is it necessary to update your binder/documentation?
I often tell my clients that they should update their binder every 30 days with new information and changes. This way the updates do not overwhelm the binder owner or the caregiver if waiting too long to update.
Where do you get information to put in your binder?
Many individuals find it easiest to find their health documents on patient portals. If your doctor has a patient portal, take the opportunity to sign up! Many of the records needed to keep your binder working well can be found on a patient portal. If this is not an option, it is possible to get in touch with the Medical Records department for each provider. These can be mailed directly to the binder owner.
Why is it important to keep a binder like this?
Keeping concise and organized Medical Records can provide the individual or caregiver with a sense of peace while also arming them with the confidence needed to advocate in a health care setting. Having documents in the correct place can alleviate stress and encourage open and continued communication between patient and provider as well as between providers.
Organized Advocacy is a business dedicated to helping individuals, caregivers and families of loved ones that are medically complex, developmentally delayed, those in our senior citizen population and the veteran community.
Caregivers for our aging community members often have a huge responsibility to keep medications lists, provider contacts, health information and medical history in order for appointments. The Organized Advocacy Senior Binder does just that while also accounting for the legal documentation that is necessary when taking care of a older loved one. If you think you or someone you know could benefit from an Organized Advocacy Binder, please visit me at www.medicalbinders.com!