Health and Medical Information

You get a bad infection and the doctor wants to know if you are allergic to any types of medicines. You cut your skin with a sharp instrument and the nurse wants to know your blood type. You keep switching doctors due to changes in your health insurance plan.

Having organized, easily accessible medical records can be the difference between life and death. Sounds dramatic, but it can be true. So let’s look at some of the ways you can organize your medical data.

Idea #1 Expanding Folders with a Flap: One expanding folder per family member. This folder comes with dividers that you can label by doctor name, medical specialty, system within the body (circulatory, etc.) or some other way that works for you. You may want to have a piece of paper at the front of each section for basic information. If you have any test results or notes from an appointment they can be put behind the appropriate divider. By having records in an expandable folder, you can easily take the entire folder to an appointment and have all pertinent information with you.

Idea #2 Binders: One binder per family member with subject dividers. Similar to the expandable folders, these dividers can be named by doctor name, medical specialty, system within the body or some other way that works for you. You may want to have a piece of paper at the front of each section for basic information. If you have any test results or notes from an appointment they can be put behind the appropriate divider. If you have extensive medical history, it may either take a big binder or multiple binders. If more than one binder is necessary, then you have to make a decision about which information goes into each binder.

Idea #3 Electronic: Electronic refers to two different concepts:

• Electronic copies of information you also have in hard copy. The best way to organize these is to set up files within your computer that are parallel to the structure of your paper files. This is a whole article unto itself, so I won’t give additional information on this at this time.

• Websites or software that allows you to manage your medical records online or on your computer. Continue reading »

A medical power of attorney in Florida is called a “Designation of Health Care Surrogate.” In a Designation of Health Care Surrogate form, the person who is authorizing someone else to be able to make medical decisions in their behalf is called the principal. The person who the principal is authorizing to make medical decisions in their behalf is called the surrogate. Surrogate is defined as “someone who takes the place of another”. A Designation of Health Care Surrogate form may also name a backup surrogate in case the first named surrogate is unable or unwilling to act in behalf of the principal. The surrogate cannot make medical decisions or consent to medical treatments on behalf of the principal until the principal is no longer able to make their own health care decisions and consent to medical treatments. The principal’s inability to provide informed consent is determined by the principal’s attending physician after assessing the principal’s condition. The surrogate’s authority ends when the principal regains the ability to make their own medical decisions and consent to medical treatments.

When a surrogate is notified by the health care facility that they are now authorized to act on behalf of the principal due to the principal’s present condition and the surrogate is not the husband or wife of the principal, the surrogate must notify the principal’s spouse or adult children of the principal’s designation of health care surrogate. The surrogate may also begin to make health care decisions on behalf of the principal now. If the principal had previously informed the surrogate as to what types of treatments he or she would or would not consent to under particular circumstances, the surrogate should make their decisions based on the principal’s wishes. If the surrogate should have to make a decision about something that was not discussed with the principal, the surrogate should make their decision considering the principal’s best interest when deciding. Before the surrogate makes a decision that was not discussed with the principal beforehand, the surrogate may ask for medical information and advice from the principal’s health care providers and have access to the principal’s medical records. The surrogate not only has the authority to consent to medical treatments for the principal, the surrogate may also decline suggested medical treatments or ask that medical treatments being administered to the principal be stopped or removed as well. The surrogate may also request that the principal’s medical records be shared with another medical facility so that the surrogate could get a second opinion from a different physician and even request that the principal be transferred to a different health care facility.