Save time, save money, and ensure you get the best possible care
In today’s healthcare system, patients and their families need to be ready to advocate for themselves. Healthcare works and the healthcare system as a whole is overwhelmed and just can’t provide quality care without patients who can help.
You and your husband seem to have a good understanding of his prior physical condition. You took the time to understand the purpose for the suggested test and the value of the additional information it could provide. You considered the available information and you identified your various options. You weighed the costs and benefits associated with your choices. It sounds like you were more satisfied with the care experience because you played an active role in deciding the direction of the care. Your story isn’t just about better decision-making, it’s about reducing health care cost and improving the care experience. Thanks for helping us all to see what it looks like when patients and their families are acting in their role as “empowered consumers”.
Right now, you might be satisfied with the outcome of the care your husband just received for the vertigo, but what if it comes back or doesn’t resolve or gets worse over time? Having a PHR will enable you and your husband to document health information in the present, while it is in the forefront of your life, in case you need to reference back to that information in the future. What if a year from now your husband’s vertigo comes back? What if it comes back two years from now? Will you be able to recall the situation as clearly as you do right now? Wouldn’t you want to easily pull this information back up to review the details? Wouldn’t you want to provide a future care provider with as accurate as possible historical information?
By storing “today’s” information conveniently using digital technology, you retain a more accurate view of what someday will be “history”. And, there’s no extra cost for requesting past records, no delay in providing doctors with the information they need, and no forgetting exactly what occurred. Your health “health history” belongs to you too, not just your doctors. And sometimes you may have more of the whole picture of your care than the doctor who is treating you. Having complete medical records at your fingertips and being able to share what you’ve collected with your provider will lead to better quality care and may save the cost of testing that can be eliminated by reviewing prior results.
