Own Your Medical Records

Own Your Medical Records

You should maintain your own master file medical record chart. Federal Law enacted in 1996 called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) gave every citizen a right to read and be given a copy of their medical record, including all chart notes, diagnostic tests, and consultant notes. It also mandated that any patient request an addendum to their medical record written by the patient and placed linked to the specific chart note to either note a correction or contest the note content. The original note cannot be changed legally, but the addendum will highlight the issue.

Open the PDF file at the bottom of this page to request a release of your medical records to yourself.

The reason to maintain a complete copy of your personal medical record is that you may be traveling and need urgent medical services. Or a medical consultant needs more records than were sent to them. And our society is mobile, and jobs change and families relocate. The other reason to own and review your medical record is to find misstatements or errors in the record and correct them promptly. Remember, Life Insurance companies request copies of your records to decide if they will sell you a policy and at what price. Other companies and organizations have access legally to your medical records. Therefore one should always maintain their own complete medical records and read them carefully.

By reading your chart notes, you may better appreciate what your physician is thinking and trying to accomplish. The medical language and jargon can be looked upon an internet search or request clarification at the next office visit.

Medicare has made its website helpful to manage your own health. Go to www.medicare.gov/manage-your-health/index.html. From there, go to Medicare’s Blue Button http://www.medicare.gov/manage-your-health/blue-button/medicare-blue-button.html, and you may keep your medical records in the Cloud protected by the Federal Government. Or you can store them in your personal cloud storage, such as SkyDrive, GoogleDrive, Dropbox. Or store the files on a thumb drive on your key chain or in your smartphone. A digitalized medical record can then be called upon no matter where on earth you need it.

Internet Research

It is modern-day medicine that patients may search the internet with their symptoms or diagnosis and read all sorts of information. Hopefully, internet users know that there is a lot of misinformation and junk on the internet and excellent information. You can always copy to paper or a file what you have found and request clarification from your physician. Don’t expect your physician to read forty-odd pages of questionable information critically. But they should be able to direct you to creditable sources or answer most of your questions. You did some internet research that shows that you want to take personal responsibility for your own health.

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