Improve your Personal Heath by Taking Notes
QHHL 
Dec 21 2017
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0 QHHL
Doctors are busy these days and medical appointments are short. That’s why, when you’re sick, you need to make sure you get the best medical care possible in that short window. One of the best ways to do this is by taking notes about your health at home. The information that comes from this kind of health tracking behavior can be pivotal in helping your doctor understand what’s happening to you so they can make the right diagnosis. It will also put you in charge of your own condition, give you a shot of power and control that is greatly needed in the doctor-patient relationships. So if you understand the importance of health tracking for your overall health and wellbeing, here’s a quick guide for you to follow.
A Communication Problem between Doctors and Patients
When you go to the doctor, you have a short time to tell them what’s wrong. Unfortunately, this rushed interaction can often lead to missed information. You may not remember that day, a week before you actually got sick, when you felt dizzy. Or the day you couldn’t keep your lunch down. And a headache a week before probably won’t get passed on either. These may seem like small things, and unrelated to the condition that sent you to the doctor, but they can be strong indicators of your overall condition. You never know what’s important, or which piece of information your doctor will need to make the right call. And without that information, it’s easier for your doctor to misdiagnose your condition. That’s something you want to avoid at all costs. This all shows how this communication problem can present major difficulties for the doctor, the patient and their relationship. However, there is a simple way to overcome it.
Taking Notes before an Appointment
Health tracking can be one of the most effective ways to ensure that your doctor has all the information they need to make the right diagnosis. By keeping track of essential statistics you will be able to tell for yourself if there’s a problem with your personal health and see your doctor before the situation gets worse. And once at the doctor’s office, you will have a full array of numbers to show them to illustrate your condition and better inform your diagnosis and treatment.
The process of keeping health notes could be as simple as keeping a diary on paper, or using a health app like HomeLab to log symptoms on your phone. Whichever option you choose, there are a number of health markers you should include in your health assessment. Some of the most vital, and the easiest health markers to measure, are as follows:
Clinical Applications
A recent change in some medical facilities is the use of programs such as OpenNotes and OurNotes to take this a step further. Some studies have shown that patients who write notes in their own patient files are more engaged with their care and have better relationships with their doctors. That’s why some medical facilities and practitioners are considering using these types of programs as part of their regular practice.
If brought about, this change to the regular procedures would reduce the amount of paperwork for doctors. And this would be a welcome change for an industry that seems to be buried in paperwork these days. The extra information would also help doctors to better understand their patients’ concerns, eliminate the chances of patients forgetting or dismissing important symptoms, and streamline the diagnostic procedure. And all of this should result in better patient care, and less chance of a dangerous medical mistake.
To improve your personal health by taking notes, try HomeLab, the system dedicated to tracking your health for better medical knowledge and care.
Tags: Personal health, health tracking, health at home, health assessment