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Create a Personal Medical History

Your doctors keep records, you need to as well

by: Education & Outreach | from: AARP | July 23, 2010

Do you know the last time you had a tetanus shot? Can you name all the doctors you’ve seen in the past five years or all the conditions you’ve been treated for? It’s easy to lose track of your health information. But an easy solution is available – write it all down.

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Organize Your Health Information

A woman checks her medical history records and files — Photo by Tetra Images/Getty Images

Need more information on how to keep better medical records? Use these below tools to help get you started.

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A written health history can improve the health care you receive and help you stay well. It’s also the best way to make your information available quickly, such as during an emergency, for passing along to doctors and nurses. You can use your personal medical history to:

Remember when it’s time for a screening or a test
Keep track of who in your family had an illness or disease that could put you at risk
Recall when symptoms for an illness began, got worse or better, and ended

A health history also helps people with chronic illnesses manage their conditions better by tracking flare-ups and their possible causes. For instance, noting when you began a new medication could explain a sudden spike in blood pressure.

Many think of a medical record as something only a doctor's office handles. But according to Bill Thomas, M.D., a geriatric medicine and eldercare expert and AARP visting scholar, keeping a personal medical history is one of the most important steps people can take to improve the safety and quality of the health care they receive. "Nowadays, patients are partners with their doctors, and things work best when both partners are involved with the task of keeping accurate records," he says. "A personal medical record can be a real lifesaver."

Having a record of your health is especially handy when you have limited time during a doctor's visit. Information a physician might need to diagnose and treat you will be at your fingertips. Knowing which tests and treatments you’ve already had might keep your doctor from unnecessarily repeating them. Having your own records is also helpful when you travel, or if you switch doctors and your office medical records get lost or don’t follow you to the new office. And an organized document or file with your information could prove essential if a friend or family member needs to assist in your medical care or make decisions on your behalf.

What to include
You don’t have to be an organization freak to keep health records. Nor do you need to spend countless hours of time at your desk or computer. (See the box on page 2 for forms and web tools you can use.) At its simplest, your record should include:

Your name, birth date and blood type
Information about your allergies, including drug and food allergies; details about chronic conditions you have
A list of all the medications you use, the dosages and how long you’ve been taking them
The dates of your doctor's visits
The dates and results of tests, procedures or health screenings
Information about any major illnesses or surgeries you’ve had

Next: Write it down in a journal. >>