When you move cities or switch a doctor, you must establish new primary care. Obviously, your new doctor won’t magically have access to your past records and will need to look at all your medical history to provide quality care.
Unfortunately, most patients do not maintain their medical records. But having access to them is essential. There are different types of medical records that contain various pieces of health information.
Read on to discover which ones you should keep when seeing a new doctor.
Here is a list of different types of medical records that you should always have access to:
Some people develop multiple chronic conditions, such as arthritis, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Knowing your history of chronic diseases is vital health information that your doctor should know. It helps healthcare providers devise a treatment plan based on your past and current condition.
Make sure you have access to all the prescriptions of medications you’re currently taking or have taken in the past. Plus, you should also keep track of any OTC medicines you may have used.
It helps your healthcare practitioner observe how the drugs have affected your condition, and depending on the circumstances, they may change some of the meds.
Any bloodwork or urine tests conducted in the past can be helpful in understanding your current condition. However, really old lab results are of little use. It’s best to keep a record of any labwork conducted in the past year.
Biopsies, x-rays, EKGs, CT scans, MRIs, and other similar radiology images or diagnostic reports from the past 1 to 2 years can be helpful for future diagnosis. Moreover, such reports can help your current doctor in managing any current conditions you might have.
Knowing which doctors provided primary care to you in the past is another valuable piece of health information. To be more specific, you should mention which specialists were involved in your past treatments, such as pulmonologists, neurologists, etc.
Having access to the common types of medical records listed above is essential, especially when switching doctors or moving cities.
With ChartSquad, you can acquire all your health information quickly, securely, and most of all, inexpensively. You can track every request you make and access your records with zero obligation without involving any contracts.