You need to keep your own records

I trust everybody to do their own job. Yes, I believe doctors and nurses are doing their absolute best for my patient. I believe the medical office staff is trying their hardest to keep everything straight and make it available to me. I have faith in everyone working in a hospital to be professional and keep complete records. But with record keeping for eldercare? I trust myself more.

I have one patient. They have many. 

Learning things the hard way is, well, hard. It does, however, leave a lasting impression that doesn’t go away, and will make you more cautious about relinquishing your control to anybody. That’s what happened to me—records were not kept, or lost, or unavailable, just once too often. I learned to keep copies of absolutely everything myself.

Extremely important:

Keep it on paper. I’ve learned that the medical community doesn’t seem to do well with technology, and it is important for you to maintain physical copies of everything related to the medical records of your loved one. This was hard on me at first, because I live relatively paperless. I run a paperless classroom, and rely on my technology for just about everything. Keeping—and carrying around—all that paper was a big transition for me. 

It’s worth it for the peace of mind. 

Record Keeping for Eldercare: Creating File Folders

This blog is completely devoted to medical records, and things the doctors and facilities might want, or provide you with. Do not confuse this with the other paperwork I need to maintain related to my parents’ estate or personal holdings. That will be its own blog!!!

Obviously each doctor should have a file. On the inside cover, I staple business cards, and hand write any contact information (like office manager name, best time to call, anything I learn through dealing with them).

Every individual hospital stay should have its own folder. Each individual event needs to be recorded, and the paperwork associated with that particular hospital stay might become very important when you are dealing with insurance claims.

Create a folder for prescription medications. I have a record of each medication, how long it was taken, and if there were any side effects. The front inside cover of that folder has a piece of paper stapled to it, with a running list of every single prescription or drug my parents have been prescribed. At the far right is a small column that says “End date”. That is how I can quickly identify what medications are current, and the last dose when doctors ask.

Record Keeping for Eldercare: Organizing your files

Excellent organization skills are required to do The Job successfully and (relatively) painlessly. Being able to get my hands on documents at a moment’s notice has come in handy in both emergency and non-emergency events. Spend the time at the front-end to do all of this work, and it will pay dividends long after the person is gone. 

Get yourself a good, old fashioned filing cabinet.

You only need the low, two-drawer kind in my opinion, so it won’t take up a lot of room, but you need to be organized. Depending on your loved one’s health situation, you may need one or both drawers, but I can’t imagine needing more than that in any situation.

For Pop, he had the top drawer, which has now moved to Mom. The bottom drawer I have always used for their personal holdings and estate information. There is extra room in both drawers at my house. 

Most important file:

This is the key that holds the entire process together. Cross-referencing. I have an overview file for Mom that includes everything that is CURRENT. This file has, basically, the key elements from each of the individual doctor/hospital file. This file is actually a different color from the rest, so I can find it easily. It also is the first file in the drawer.

Examples of what is kept in this file include a current medication list with doses, current doctors with contact phone numbers and addresses. Current photocopies of Mom’s insurances are in that file, as well as her State Identification card (no Driver’s License anymore). 

Record Keeping for Eldercare: Keep copies handy

My cross-referenced file is by far my most important tool when it comes to maintaining Mom’s excellent health. I update it when important things change. For Pop, that was quite often as we dealt with the blood thinners and chemo appointments, etc., but for Mom, I am rarely in that folder at all, because she is THAT healthy. Literally, the last time I went into that folder was when she was taken OFF one of her only medications. Seriously.

Create another file:

Copies. There are logical, and legitimate things that every different doctor will need, and that the hospital will need upon admittance. For all of those documents, I keep a file with a few copies ready to go. Each different document is paper-clipped, so I can tell when I need to make additional copies of that particular thing.

Examples of this will vary depending on your situation, but examples from my own include:

• State Identification (Driver’s license replacement)
• Insurance cards (front and back)
• Current medication list
• Known allergies or bad medication reactions
• All hospitalizations with dates
• My contact information

Record Keeping for Eldercare: Remember these important docs

While I’m talking primarily about organizing medical records to make things seamless in an emergency, I need to mention some extremely important documents you need to access for all situations. I’m referring to your Power of Attorney, the Living Will, and the DNR. If these documents are not already completed, make that today’s priority. You can’t do The Job without these documents. You really can’t.

From my vast experiences, medical professionals will “take your word for it” in an emergency situation, but that isn’t good enough. It is much more credible and reliable for you to have these documents at the ready so they can be produced as needed.

I try to keep things super positive in my blog posts, but I have to mention dissenting family members. I am blessed to have the complete faith and support of my siblings, but that isn’t really the norm. In case anyone wants to question your authority in The Job, these documents will prove that you are carrying forward your loved one’s wishes at that critical time.

Protect them by protecting yourself. 

Finally, Your Diary

I don’t keep a personal diary. I deeply regret not keeping a travel diary from the time Sweet Husband and I were married, because I’ve forgotten details of so many amazing trips over the years. My personal thoughts? Nope.

For some reason, though, I started a diary of Pop’s health when things started to turn ugly. Not right from the beginning, mind you, but when things started to become unmanageable. Man, do I treasure that diary now. I did it on a Word document (paperless) and formatted it like a table to keep all of the information neat and organized.

What Did I Write?

At first, I simply recorded the results of each doctor appointment—details, prescription changes, notes about his treatments. Soon, however, the column on the far right started to include anecdotal information, and my feelings about everything that was happening.

I wrote about the good times, like how Pop (NEVER a drinker) started requesting beer as his only beverage near the end. Also, I wrote about the bad times, like the 3 am run to the hospital when the catheter got backed up by a blood clot. I wrote about how Mom was doing (not good) and how Pop was handling everything mentally and emotionally (like the champ he was). Even changes in the dog’s behavior were noted, as Luna transitioned to a caregiving role as Pop became more fragile.

I do it now, for Mom. She has virtually no doctors appointments, and no medications (amazing 92-year-old that she is), but I like to keep track of the good and the bad days. The dives into Crazytown that we can laugh over, and the falls into Crazytown that scare her. It’s a much simpler journal, but I’m hoping it will serve its purpose.

What is the purpose? Memories. Now and then, I read Pop’s journal and never fail to find something I had forgotten, or a funny story that has since left my 56-year-old memory. I laugh, I cry. 

I remember. 

Isn’t that really the legacy that sustains us?

So, please, write it down. 

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR

Thank you for reading about record keeping for eldercare!

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