October is National Organize Your Medical Information Month.  “Organize Medical Papers” is an often neglected task.  And if our health becomes an unexpected roller-coaster ride, we find ourselves struggling with our info AND a medical setback.

October is the right time to organize your medical info since employers offer their insurance enrollment period in November for the upcoming year.  Take this opportunity to look back and review, and look ahead and plan, and get those papers in order!

Remember, I’m a certified professional organizer, not a health care professional!   Always consult a medical professional for health-related questions.

Your Medical Information may include, but is not limited to:

• ID numbers for your health insurance(s), prescription or dental plan, etc.
• Lists of and information on current medications and supplements
• Durable power of attorney for health care
• Immunization or Medical records
• Progress reports for various therapies
• Information on acute (once in a while) or chronic (on-going) medical issues
• Discharge instructions from current and past events
• Correspondence with insurance companies re current and past treatment

First, purge old or obsolete information!  It’s clutter and can even be dangerous.  For example, keep only your updated prescription list, so no one confuses the old list for the new one.

You can purge papers if you won’t need them again, the information is no longer pertinent, or if the information exists elsewhere and you trust the keeper of the information.  For example, my three sons were delivered uneventfully by the same doctor at the same hospital.  That was more than 10 years ago, so I can confidently purge records from those events.  Remember, SHRED anything containing personal information!

Now that you have a better idea of what papers you have and what to keep, set up a system for your papers.

Make It Portable.

• Purchase a 3 Ring Binder from your local office supply store for keeping medical information portable.
• Take your medical binder to doctor appointments, so you have all the information you need at hand.
• High Tech. The August edition of Woman’s Day offered suggestions to improve your health, and a handful of them were high tech:  Asking about on-line Patient Portals with your healthcare provider, or trying these mobile medical apps like PocketPharmacist or iTriage.

Make It Easy and Keep it Updated!

• In the front of the binder, keep a list with your physician and other practitioner’s contact information.
• Purchase a clear set of binder pockets, to help you divide up the important info within your binder. Assign pockets for categories such as:
  • Prescriptions and prescription information
  • Copies of the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and other pertinent directives
  • Discussion topics for your doctor, like recent lab / test / radiology reports, articles about new health care innovations, nutrition, supplements, etc., to discuss at your next appointment.
  • Pending insurance issues
  • This year’s paid medical bills and insurance EOB (Explanation of benefits)
  • Perhaps a folder per specialist, or per issue

Make it Personal:

• Each family member may need their own binder! Thankfully, my family has unremarkable medical histories.  But every year, we fill out physical forms for my sons for school athletics and camp.  I keep a copy of each yearly physical form, to help complete the next one.  And as information changes, for example my son had oral surgery last December, I note that on my copy of the physical form.  The actual medical record exists with his doctors, but I now have an informal yet compete history for my own use.

Tell your family where the medical information binder is kept.

• For example, our family recently faced some medical challenges, and my siblings and I all knew where my parent’s medical information binder was kept. Thankfully, everything went smoothly, but we were glad to have the information!

Spend a little time with your Medical Information now, and feel better all year long!