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If you’re disabled and lucky enough to be employed, odds are your total medical, dental, and prescription costs exceed 7.5 percent of your Adjusted Gross Income for federal income-tax purposes. If so, the amount of those costs over 7.5 percent could help reduce your tax liability.

Is that not reason enough to organize your medical records and be able to substantiate those costs?

There are other reasons.

Truly save time
“As a caregiver in the past, a small business owner, and a mother, I’ve realized that having a record of healthcare appointments, lab results, health professionals, insurance companies, condition symptoms, and more all in one place can truly save time,” wrote Laura Heuer for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Co. division of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies Inc.,

It can “reduce stress and may help you obtain better service. I’m now a huge advocate of a ‘Personal Health Record’ (PHR) to organize your own or your loved one’s health information.”

She explains a PHR is an account of your health or that of someone for whom you’re caring. It has space for contact data, symptoms, appointments, and full records describing every “incident.” Store it in a safe place at home or your office, because having a record of healthcare professionals can keep you organized.

Why keep records?

Here are a few reasons for keeping medical records:

• It can save time if a physician in one practice needs records of another healthcare professional.
• It can be helpful when you have test results, contact information, and hours in one place.
• It’s more accurate to write down symptoms right after an incident, rather than rely on memory.
• If you write down questions ahead of time, you’re more likely to ask your doctor better questions; better questions = better answers. Write down your doctor’s answers.
• Having written information helps medical professionals in the event of an emergency.

Heuer advises inclusion of:

• Prescription medications, time/day of dosage
• Data about allergies and known reactions to medications
• Family medical history
• Major medical events (surgeries, trauma, in-patient or out-patient care.
• Immunizations); write the place, date, time, and reactions.
• Keep a running sheet on all appointments, doctor’s name, place, and phone number.
• Keep health or condition symptoms written down.
• Any time you have a question or concern about something or want to ask your healthcare professional something, write it down for the next appointment.
• Doctor letters, lab results, copies of insurance claims—ask for a copy at every appointment.
• Directions to healthcare professional offices, hospitals, clinics, and any place that’s part of the healthcare plan.

Useful waiting
Dr. Aubrey Milunsky, as director of the Boston University Center for Human Genetics, observed, “A Lifetime Health Planner offers the simplest, most effective way to take charge of your health. If you care about yourself and your children, you will do everything you can to know your family's medical history. It can save your life and the lives of those who are dear to you."

Heuer adds, “You can start today with your important information and your doctor’s name. Fill in the rest every time you sit in the waiting room at the doctor’s office.”

Now, out of the medicine cabinet take Intuit’s Quicken or Microsoft Excel. Why? They will allow you to enter expenses, appointments, and insurance information, and help make sense of your medical bills and expenses. Always know where you stand, and don't pay more than you owe.

The Quicken Medical Expense Manager will allow you to:

• Manage multiple insurance plans, including Medicare and supplemental plans
• Know your next step
• Show whether you've paid your bill, met deductibles, or qualified for a tax deduction
• Record contact and insurance information, medical and prescription histories
• Get reminders so you never miss an appointment
• Enter your bills, payments, insurance data and appointments as you receive them.

Are we organized yet?

In his wheelchair in Jacksonville, FL, Herb Drill heads Able Me & Associates. His e-mail address is herbdrill@ableme.comm. He has Muscular Dystrophy.