Who treats you, what you take, what you’re covered for, and what you’ve actually paid. These pages don’t ask you to be healthy or to explain yourself. They ask you to write down what already exists.
Why it matters
Day to day, these pages answer the clipboard questions. Every new provider asks for the same history and the same medication list, and with these pages you answer accurately instead of from memory. They also answer “who do I call about this?” without a portal login and a search.
Patient portals can go away. Practices close, get bought, and change record systems, and no single portal ever knew more than what happened inside that one practice.
The step-in use comes fast. Someone sitting with you in an emergency room, or taking over care for a parent, needs the short version right away: what you’re allergic to, what’s current and who treats it, and what you take, at what dose, and when. A paramedic or a sitter might need the medication list tonight.
Medical bills deserve their own attention, too. Billing errors are common, and matching each bill to the care you actually received is how you catch them.
What to gather
- Your care team: each provider’s name, practice, phone, and patient portal
- Every insurance policy you carry, not just health, with policy numbers and claims phone numbers
- Your medical history: conditions, surgeries, allergies, and immunizations
- Your current medications, with dose, timing, prescriber, pharmacy, and refill status
- Bills and Explanations of Benefits (EOBs) for any ongoing care
- Where your insurance cards and any advance directive are kept
Where to find it
Most of the care team and medication list comes from your pharmacy’s app or printout, your insurance company’s claims history, and your patient portals. Your insurer’s claims list is especially useful, because it shows every provider who billed under your name.
For insurance, gather the declarations page from each policy: home or renters, auto, life, disability, long-term care, and umbrella, along with health, dental, and vision. Insurance touches far more of your life than health care, so it all lives together on one page.
For your history, start with what you know, then request records from past providers for anything you’re unsure of. Bring the finished page to every new-provider appointment.
A free resource
My Medicine Record (U.S. Food and Drug Administration): a free, printable form for keeping track of your medicines, doses, and the reasons you take them.
What the course adds
The Wellness and Health Information module has five lessons, one for each workbook page: Wellness Team, Insurance Information, Medical History, the Health Payment Tracker, and the Medication List.
The Health Payment Tracker is a log you set up once and use whenever you’re in active treatment, matching each bill and EOB to the care you received so errors don’t slip through.
Facts of Life Book Course · $29 · Self-paced · Included in Off The Clock, On Purpose
Keep reading
- The Facts of Life Book: what it is and how the course works
- People and Relationships
- End of Life Decisions
Disclaimer: For educational and informational purposes only. This is not medical, financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult appropriate professionals in each area.