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Trying to figure out health insurance? Get my book Choose Your Best Health Insurance for detailed assistance on how to decide which insurance plan is right for you and your family.

The post How to Get Your Medical Records appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

The key is to put your documents together before you need them. When you or a loved one needs medical attention, you may not have the time or the resources to gather health information. So, it’s important that, before an emergency, you have a Medical Life List on hand for you and for each of your loved ones. In a nutshell, your Medical Life List is your own personal medical record created by you and updated by you. In this video, I help you get started.

After you watch the video, you can download your own Medical Life List template in my free toolkit.

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Confused about health insurance? Get my new book Choose Your Best Health Insurance for detailed assistance on how to decide which insurance plan is right for you and your family.

The post Keep Your Own Medical Records appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

Not automatically. It’s a matter of privacy. Their records are private, just as yours are, accessible only by them and anyone else they happened to designate. If you’re jumping in to help, it could cause the process to slowdown if you aren’t specifically chosen by them.

This affects not only spouses or grown children trying to help their aging parents, but also patients who may want their primary caregiver (family or otherwise) to have access to their medical records.

Often paperwork is given at the doctor’s office or the hospital that has the patient provide a name and contact information for anyone additional who is allowed to receive information about the patient’s medical. If this paperwork isn’t given automatically, the patient can and should request an authorization form designating permission.

Incidentally, a doctor is allowed to give information to a spouse or family member if he or she is present during a doctor’s visit or a hospital stay. If the patient has a family member come with them to the doctor, the doctor can assume that the patient wants the family member to have access to the medical information being given unless the patient states otherwise.

While being at the doctor with the patient may allow you to hear current diagnoses or recommendations, it does not guarantee full medical record access. If the patient wants you to be able to access more than the current conversation, have them authorize you in writing.

The post Can You Get Your Senior’s (or Spouse’s) Medical Records? appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

Being a mom often times means taking care of others before yourself

1. Maintaining a healthy diet
2. Engaging in physical activity
3. Getting enough sleep
4. Finding ways to reduce stress
5. And sharing your medical history with your friends and family

Making sure your personal and family health history is often times forgotten, but can be very important in the event of an emergency. What you need is a Medical Life List! In a nutshell, your Medical Life List is your own personal medical record created by you and updated by you.

You can find the template of the Medical Life List in MyHealthSpin’s free eBook, Easy Healthcare Guide: What You Need First.

So the question is…how will you celebrate Mom this Mother’s Day?

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Spin Your Healthcare Your Way!

The post Celebrate Mother’s Day The HealthSpin Way appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

Our helpful health care links

Inside Nepal’s Next Challenge: Overflowing Hospitals

Hospitals throughout Nepal are flooded with patients, with thousands in need of care for acute injuries after a massive earthquake that the country’s leader said may have killed up to 10,000.

A Day in the Life of a Stolen Healthcare Record

The process of divining the provenance of stolen healthcare records. These records typically are processed or handled by a gauntlet of third party firms, most of which have no direct relationship with the patient or customer ultimately harmed by the breach.

P.S.–TODAY is your last day to sign up for the ObamaCare Enrollment Extension!

Spin your healthcare your way and check out our Easy Healthcare eBook Guides.

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HealthSpin’s Easy Healthcare: Choose Your Health Insurance gives you the practical steps you can take to choose the right insurance plan for you and your family.

The post Helpful Healthcare Links: April 30, 2015 appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

My daughter’s doctor asked us this question during a recent visit.  His answer was surprising: “the Cloud.”  

As many of you know, my daughter was born with a life-threatening illness.  She’s an adult now and working at her first job in an urban city far away from me and her doctors.  She recently had a bad case of food poisoning, which lasted a long time.  We both began to wonder whether this was actually a more serious problem.  We decided to schedule an appointment with her doctor to follow up.  She took a day off of work and flew home.

Although she was fine, we thought it was important to make a plan if she ever got very sick again.  Remember “preparation” is everything in healthcare.  My daughter flies all over the world and often has to leave without much notice.  What would happen if she had a serious problem while she was out of the country?

The doctor told us how important it would be for any doctor she saw to have her important health information about the surgeries she had as a child.  Specifically, he said she should have immediate access to:

1. The reports from her operations (operative reports)
2. Any x-rays, and
3. Discharge summaries from hospital stays

The doctor and I agreed that, although everyone talks about patients having a universal healthcare record that can be accessed from anywhere, this simply does not exist.  He suggested getting the important records and putting them on my daughter’s phone which could be backed up in the cloud.  Therefore, she would have access to the records from anywhere in the world.

Having immediate access to her important health records might be the difference between life and death.  So taking some time now to contact the various hospitals where she had her surgeries, gathering the records, scanning them and putting them where we can immediately access them makes a lot of sense.

Tell me what you do to protect yourself from a health emergency when you or your children travel?  I’d love to hear from you.

A great place to start gathering your health history is to download my FREE eBook, Easy Healthcare: What to Do First which contains a Medical Life List.

MyHealthSpin helps you Spin Your Healthcare Your Way!

The post How Will You Get Your Health History When Traveling? appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

Tell us whether you are concerned about you health information being compromised. We’d love to hear from you!

For more information about your health privacy, see HealthSpin’s Easy Healthcare:  Healthcare Privacy.

As Always, we hope we’re helping you “Spin Your Healthcare Your Way!

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P.S.–Please remember that ObamaCare has added an extra enrollment period that from March 15 – April 30, 2015. For more information about your health insurance, see HealthSpin’s Easy Healthcare: Choosing Your Health Insurance 

The post 3 Steps To Follow If Your Health Information Is Hacked appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

The short answer is “yes – it’s likely.”

My daughter, who just started a new job, got a notice from her employer that she was one of the 80 million people who had their health information hacked in February of this year.  She was understandably very concerned.

So what should you do when you become aware  that your information is hacked?

1. If you notice something suspicious, notify your healthcare provider or insurance company immediately.
2. If your healthcare provider or insurance company tells you your information has been compromised, it’s likely that they will provide you with identity theft coverage.  If not, ask for it.
3. Monitor your financial information and immediately report any strange charges.

In the case of the Anthem BCBS breach, BCBS provided 2 years of identity theft repair assistance, credit monitoring, and identity theft insurance to all the people affected by the breach.

One of the areas to pay attention to is your tax returns.  For some of the BCBS customers who were hacked,  the hackers filed fraudulent tax returns using the stolen information.  When the person went to file their taxes, they were informed that they had already filed and received a refund.

Tell us whether you are concerned about hacking of your health information. We’d love to hear from you!

For more information about your health insurance, see HealthSpin’s Easy Healthcare: Choosing Your Health Insurance.

For more information about your health privacy, see HealthSpin’s Easy Healthcare:  Healthcare Privacy.

We hope we’re helping you “Spin Your Healthcare Your Way!

The post Is Your Health Information Being Hacked? appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

Our helpful health care links

Healthcare Is Headed Down A New Road With New Rules In 2015

Here is the trend of the top ten trends shaping healthcare for 2015.

Government Health Care Website Quietly Sharing Personal Data

The government’s health insurance website is quietly sending consumers’ personal data to private companies that specialize in advertising and analyzing Internet data for performance and marketing.

House Approves Two Obamacare Tweaks Intended To Help Small Businesses

The House of Representatives has already approving two bills that would revise some of the legislation’s most controversial rules for business owners.

Michigan Health Insurance Sign-Ups Near 300,000

Nearly 300,000 Michiganians have signed up for health insurance through the federal government with just over three weeks remaining to enroll.

Hospitals’ Medicare Quality Bonuses Get Wiped Out By Penalties

What Medicare gives with one hand, it’s taking away with another. Most government quality bonuses to hospitals this year are being wiped out by penalties issued for other shortcomings.

The post Helpful Health Care Links: January 23, 2015 appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

Our helpful health care links

Johnson & Johnson Will Make Clinical Data Available to Outside Researchers

Healthcare giant, Johnson & Johnson has agreed to make detailed clinical trial data on its medical devices and diagnostic tests available to outside researchers through a collaboration with Yale University.

Obamacare ‘Fine’ Not Dandy, Says California Exchange Boss

The head of California’s Obamacare exchange warns California residents about increased fines under Obamacare this year for not having health insurance.

Still Waiting For Strong Privacy Laws

President Obama this week proposed privacy laws that could give Americans greater control over their personal information.

U.S. Healthcare Executives Say Obamacare Is Not Going Anywhere

U.S. healthcare executives say Obamacare is likely here to stay, despite repeated calls from Republican lawmakers for repeal of the 2010 law aimed at providing health coverage for millions of uninsured Americans.

FDA Clears ‘Pacemaker For The Stomach’

Federal regulators approved a novel dieting device that acts like a pacemaker for the stomach by manipulating the nerve pathway that makes people feel hungry or full.

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Healthcare has changed radically. Gone are the days when the only medical professional a patient saw was their trusted local doctor. HealthSpin’s Easy Healthcare: Healthcare Privacy walks you through the practical steps you can take to safeguard your healthcare privacy as a patient.

Available for download NOW!

The post Helpful Health Care Links: January 16, 2015 appeared first on MyHealthSpin.