Can you imagine if our medical records could be as easily found as a chocolate chip cookie recipe (on the back of every store-bought bag of chocolate chips or by searching Google)? There are those who have all of their medical records in pristine-accordion file condition and there are those who well - just don’t.
Keeping track of health information is tricky especially when the average person sees 18.7 different doctors (PR Newswire, 2014). Countless papers carry information with test results, vaccination updates, and valuable health details; that is enough paperwork to give anyone a headache and want a chocolate chip cookie.
If you are a health professional caring for patients, having up to date paperwork of your vaccination records is a must. Organizing this information can be tricky but the Center for Disease and Prevention Control has suggested some helpful hints to get you from missing information or a stack of disheveled papers to a condensed list of relevant vaccination information.
Starting with a phone call to your previous and existing healthcare providers – you can gather the data that already exists. From there, finding the missing puzzle pieces will have you on a bit of a historical record hunt. After a few phone calls with pharmacies, past primary care doctor’s offices, and even your old education records – the result will be a compiled list of up to date information.
Your place of employment or educational institution will thank you for taking the time to compile your vaccination record and next year, when they ask for the same information with up to date vaccinations – you will thank yourself for taking the time to get it in order.
Comments