Why Are My Medical Records Important? Your medical history is a personal library of very important information that both you and your doctors need, particularly if you have multiple, chronic, or other complex illnesses. It is the blueprint of your health, encompassing diagnoses, treatments, lab results, and more. Understanding how to access your healthcare information…
In today’s world a lot of people are “on the go.” They include: business people who travel regularly, tourists away for weeks at a time, students or researchers away for months, athletes who travel endlessly during their season, snowbirds who live part of the year in southern climates, migrants like farm workers or Indian tribes who live in different…
When we are sick, we want doctors to treat our issues as quickly and efficiently as possible. Yet, did you know that your doctors don’t have all the information they need to treat you? This is frustrating, and can lead to delays, cause them to reschedule visits, and waste time and money. The solution is…
When it comes to healthcare, we as patients have certain expectations. Simply put, we want our doctors to really listen to us, and we want them to treat what ails us properly so we can get well again. This should be simple enough. After all, this is what doctors do – they treat us. It’s…
Did you know that none of your doctors can instantly access all your medical records? Most of us assume they can, but that’s not the case. There are multiple reasons why, including the fact that their electronic medical records systems may be incompatible with one another. The end result is that your doctors may not…
Think about how many times you visit with your doctors over the course of a few years. Most people go at least once or twice, but most of us also have more than one doctor that they see. When showing up for an appointment, we always just assume that the doctor can see our medical…
Numerous studies have shown that the United States spends more than twice the average cost per capita on healthcare than do other wealthy nations, and gets decidedly poorer outcomes. These poor results are driven in large part by a crisis in our healthcare system that seriously limits our doctors’ ability to treat us properly when…
Over the past 40 years, one senior citizen — we’ll call him Jack — has seen literally dozens of physicians in more than 10 practices and hospitals, six cities, three states. Using their systems, none could access all his records when they needed to understand his issues or coordinate his care. The result? They made some costly mistakes, sometimes hurt…
If you are healthy and rarely see a doctor, the question “Who coordinates your medical care?” probably doesn’t appear on your radar. But when you get sick, especially with one or more chronic illnesses, it becomes a major concern and source of great frustration because the answer for most of us is “no one!” Not our primary care physician. Not our specialists. Not our care givers, family members, or friends. No one!!