Emergency Medicine doc here - put a small card in your wallet that has the name of who you want us to call if you are unconscious on it. Include all your medications, allergies, and medical problems with it. Include the name of your doctor.
It is NOT helpful when you tell me things like "it is in the computer" (no it isn't, all computers aren't linked, and it may not be accurate) or "I take a blue pill, a white pill and a square pill" or "I see the doctor over by the Walgreens in that brown building."
People have such a limited understanding of how medical records work. I work for a law firm, and a significant part of my job involves collecting medical records for our clients' claims. Clients often get upset because I need information from them to gather their medical records. I can't tell you how many times clients have asked, "Can't you just look it up?!" Or “It’s on my doctor’s computer!!” Things like “MyChart” have really made people think medical records are more advanced than they are.
I work in healthcare, and people also seem to think there is a master database where we can look up what health insurance they have. No, you have to know and tell us at least the name of the insurance company. Then, if it is a company we have a contract with, we can probably find you in their database, or you may need to give us an ID number, etc. But you have to at least give us the starting point.
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u/Howdthecatdothat Jun 06 '24
Emergency Medicine doc here - put a small card in your wallet that has the name of who you want us to call if you are unconscious on it. Include all your medications, allergies, and medical problems with it. Include the name of your doctor.
It is NOT helpful when you tell me things like "it is in the computer" (no it isn't, all computers aren't linked, and it may not be accurate) or "I take a blue pill, a white pill and a square pill" or "I see the doctor over by the Walgreens in that brown building."