For The Record: Keeping Track of Your Own Medical History, Critical in Today's Health System

By Elene C. Brown .
Daily Local News Health
July 31, 2000

Knowledge is power, says Dr. Marie Savard, a Main Line physician turned patient's rights advocate, especially when it comes to knowing about your own health. Speaking recently with host Matt Lauer on the "Today Show". Savard said people are amazed to find out they can take charge of their own medical records.

She explains how to go about it in her book, written with Sondra Forsyth, 'How to Save Your Own Life" (Warner Books, $13.95). The paperback comes with a health record binder "The Savard Health Record" (Time Life, $24.95), with dividers and form pages for keeping track of test results, medication lists, family history and a personal health journal. "I was a nurse before I became a doctor: I always believed patients should have much more power in decision-making and controlling their health information. It never made sense that medical records were available to everyone else but the patient, who needed to know the information more than anyone else," Savard said.

"Everywhere I go, people have told me they think there is a law prohibiting them from seeing the chart outside the door. There's a sense of mystery around it. In a 'Seinfeld" TV episode, Elaine tried to steal her chart and got caught, perpetuating the myth that it's not OK to have access to, or even see the information in, your file."

"In addition, an individual's lifetime of medical records are never all in one place and rarely available for emergency room or specialist visits when you need them most," she stressed.

Most states have laws that allow records to be destroyed after some time. In Pennsylvania, the limit is seven years.

"Eight percent of the diagnosis your doctor makes comes from the history he has in front of him, which is often fragmented and incomplete," she said. Savard understands the challenges from both sides, as a busy doctor and as a mother of three children, Zachary, Aaron and Bejamin. Her husband, Dr. Bradley Fenton, took over her practice when she began traveling and speaking, although she still sees patients one day per week.

She has served as director of the center for Women's Health, as a former columnist for "Women's Day" magazine's "your Health" section and has been named to Philadelphia Magazine's Top Doctor list four times.

Here are some highlights of her message:

• People think they won't be able to understand a summary from a specialist, that it's written in Latin. For the most part, the results are written in plain English. Any terms you don't understand can be researched on the Internet or in a medical dictionary."

• Train yourself to ask for a copy of test results. If your cholesterol levels are up, you can spot it right away by referring to a pervious last blood test, for example.

• "Make a personal health information list to carry with you all the time. Tuck it in your wallet next to your insurance card. Also, give a copy to each of your health care providers. Include your name, date of birth, address, phone, e-mail address, serious reactions to drugs, bee stings, food, X-ray contrast dyes, medical conditions and medications currently taken...along with information about your doctor and an emergency contact."

• Find a 'health buddy'- someone who can help you with questions and the information the doctor reports. Go with a senior citizen when he or she sees a doctor. Even the most powerful, assertive person can be afraid of what they'll hear from the doctor: Studies show the average person forgets 50 percent of what is aid as soon as the appointment is over."

Answer the following questions true or false:

• Do you assume that "no news is good news" when your doctor doesn't call you with test results?

• Do you believe that your test results or medical records are in a computer or on file somewhere and could never be misplaced, misread or misfiled?

• Do you think doctors you saw previously always send your complete records to you new doctor or to a hospital?

• Do you think doctors and pharmacists would never allow you to take- or necessarily warn you about- any medications that could be harmful when mixed with other drugs; prescribed, over-the=counter, or homeopathic?

• Do you rely on your doctor's office to tell you when to get your preventive tests such as immunizations, colon checks or mammograms?

• Do you believe that all of your doctors know your complete family history, medical history and all of the medications (including vitamins and herbal remedies) you currently take?

If you answer yes to any of the above, you're in for a shock. You, not your doctor, pharmacist, or hospital, are the only ones responsible for the accuracy of your medical records, says Dr. Marie Savard, an internationally known internist.

She wants to spread the word that the days of "Marcus Welby, M.D." are behind us. No longer does the whole family see the same doctor for years who knows them by sight.

In fact, in today's current system involving HMO's and PCP's, the real truth is:

• many as 30 percent of Doctors do not always tell their patients about abnormal test results. Many of the 100,000 medial mistakes that occur each year in this country could have been avoided if a medial professional only had the patient's medical history.

• Doctors and pharmacists may not necessarily warn you about medications that could be harmful when mixed with other drugs or remedies.

• Doctors and many institutions are only required to keep your records for as little as seven years before destroying them.

• There is no complete medical record in the health care system which chronicles a patient's medication, allergies, lab test, surgeries, treatments, illnesses and family medical history.

Back to list of press clips