Health records are important documents that obtain a personal medical history. Complete and well-organized health records are a must-have for everyone, especially for those who have suffered from chronic diseases or serious medical conditions. Keeping an up-to-date health record for each patient in health administration systems is a general means of good medical practice.
Moreover, medical records help practitioners assess the most appropriate care a patient should receive depending on previous and current health conditions. They hold very personal and sensitive data. Rest assured, the privacy of such documents is taken seriously in the medical world. The DELC case may offer insights into safeguarding patient data.
Here’s a list of reasons why a patient may wish to review their personal health records.
1) To Prepare For A New Appointment
Through Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), individuals have the right to access a copy of their medical records and review them at any point. Reviewing past notes can give an insight on areas that need clarification, to help patients prepare relevant questions to ask a doctor.
Say, for instance, a doctor recommended that a patient take asthma medicines and take part in more regular exercise to reduce the number and intensity of asthmatic attacks. If one was to follow these recommendations but see no improvement, they could make note of all previous treatments that have not yet worked then discuss these with a doctor to come up with a new solution.
2) To Get Clarity About Your Doctor’s Instructions
More often than not, doctors’ visits make people anxious. This anxiety may cloud judgment or disturb a patient’s ability to process or understand a doctor’s instruction clearly. It’s always a relief to be able to review health documents at a later time when feeling more relaxed.
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If someone was to receive a serious diagnosis, chances are they may not remember everything that was said during the appointment. Hence, having the ability to review health notes later will give chance to better understand the diagnosis and treatment plan.
3) To Review Important Details
No matter how well-prepared a patient is for a doctor’s appointment, there’s always a possibility to forget to mention something important during the consultation. Truth be told, the doctor’s office isn’t the most relaxing place in the world. Reviewing health records gives chance to figure out all the important information that could be best reviewed after the appointment has taken place.
Necessary information that’s beneficial to share with the doctor includes family history, current medications, previous diagnosis and/or treatment, and symptoms one may be experiencing. All these will help the doctor develop a personalized risk management plan. If health records are reviewed after leaving the consultation and a patient realizes that they’ve left out such detail, they can then call the doctor and let them know.
4) To Prevent Billing Errors
Reviewing health records will help prevent billing errors. For example, health records may detail and charge for a scan, but the patient may not have had one or are yet to have one. Having the ability to check this on the system would allow for the patient to quickly rectify this with the institution.
5) To Clear Up Possible Misunderstandings
It’s not uncommon for doctors to use terminology people don’t understand. A patient could use health notes to identify any terms not understood during an appointment, allowing them to further research if necessary. Health is a very delicate area, and nothing should ever be left to assumption.
6) To Share Accurate Information With All Clinicians
For those seeing more than one doctor at a time, providing them with accurate information might be very difficult. However, having access to health records and reviewing them lets patients share information with all the doctors involved in a more accurate and precise manner. Failure to do this may result in overtreatment, medication interactions, and other issues.
7) To Keep On Track
Reviewing medical records is a good reminder of the medications, diets, exercises, and other recommendations a patient may have to follow. It’s quite easy to relax when a patient starts feeling better and to possibly start overindulging on certain foods or miss medications. What better way to go back on track than to review one’s personal health history?
8) To Receive The Appropriate Continued Care
Some people may change physicians from time to time, for example, if they move house. If so, a full health history will need to be transferred and updated into the system of the new institution. If a patient has details of their own health records, this will allow a smooth transition of data.
Conclusion
Reviewing health records is something everyone should do often. The doctor’s office can be quite overwhelming, making it easy to miss relevant information. Patients may also see different doctors or change locations and institutions altogether. All such changes can be easier to deal with when a patient has access to and a copy of their own medical history.