| > | | | | could find all of that information. As a boomer |
| It is critically important to have medical | | | | (and also a single parent of two children), and the |
| information at your fingertips in times of illness | | | | only child living close to my mother, it was my |
| and injury. Written by a professional organizer, the | | | | role to coordinate everything related to her |
| author shares her personal story of her mother's | | | | sudden illness ~ from Dr. appointments, multiple |
| stroke to communicate the importance of having | | | | medications, referrals, tests, treatment, rehab. |
| an organized system for easy filing and access to | | | | therapy, diagnoses, and more. The amount of |
| vital medical information. | | | | new information that was coming at me daily was |
| When it comes to your medical bills and records, | | | | difficult to wrap your arms around. If you've ever |
| you are probably like 90% of the population. You | | | | experienced a sudden or serious illness with a |
| get an explanation of benefits (EOB) for a recent | | | | child, parent or yourself, you know what I'm |
| doctor's visit and it goes in one of two places. | | | | talking about. |
| The EOB gets shredded or perhaps, you keep it | | | | I found a ready-made system that had a place to |
| and throw it in a drawer. | | | | hold everything we needed to record and track |
| Then what happens when you receive a bill from | | | | her care, a place to hold business cards, |
| the doctor's office stating that your insurance | | | | appointment cards and a notepad for noting |
| denied the charge and you owe the entire | | | | doctor's comments. It was a life-saver during my |
| amount. A frantic search ensues to find the Dr. | | | | mother's health crisis and treatment. |
| appointment receipt and EOB so you can resolve | | | | For the next six months during my mother's slow |
| the error. | | | | recovery, her Medical Organizer became the |
| Like most households, each month you receive a | | | | "go-to" place for all of the medical information we |
| variety of documents having to do with your | | | | needed at our fingertips on a daily basis. The |
| health status. From referrals, explanation of | | | | Medical Organizer went with us to every therapy, |
| benefits to treatment instructions, the piles of | | | | doctor's appointment and test. I felt in control |
| medical papers add up. Multiply this by the number | | | | again and felt gratified that I was able to provide |
| of family members in your household, and you | | | | the support my mother needed. |
| can see how disorganized medical records can be | | | | As my mother continued to recover and her |
| a never-ending problem and a cause of great | | | | memory became more reliable to her, having this |
| stress in the event of an emergency. | | | | ready-made system was a God-send for her to |
| The solution is a system for managing and storing | | | | track the history from the date of her stroke. |
| your most important medical records kept in easy | | | | She felt in control by having all of her medical |
| access. Without one, chances are you'll never find | | | | history at her fingertips as she continued her |
| the paper you need when you need it. You can | | | | therapy throughout this past year. The moral of |
| design your own system of organizing all the | | | | the story is to be proactive now for the |
| paper associated with your medical records and | | | | inevitiable emergency. It will be critically important |
| treatments with various filing supplies. Or you can | | | | to be organized and in control during a situation |
| use a ready-made system with labeled categories | | | | that is really out of your control. Be sure to also |
| that hold everything in one organized place. This | | | | communicate to loved ones where your system |
| saves you from having to reinvent the wheel, | | | | is kept. Having an organized system at my |
| especially in an emergency. | | | | fingertips helped me feel in control, so I could be |
| I learned this first hand in 2008 when my mother | | | | there fully for my mother's needs. |
| suffered a stroke and heart attack! I needed to | | | | In case you're wondering ... by the grace of God, |
| be able to immediately put my hands on her | | | | my mother has returned to 95% of her old life, |
| medical records, which included all medications she | | | | feeling a renewed sense of gratitude and |
| was taking. My mother didn't have any system in | | | | appreciation for life. As am I and all those who |
| place that I could refer to, and due to her stroke, | | | | love her. |
| she wasn't able to communicate to me where I | | | | |