mlktwins Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Looking for opinions :-) !!! I am going through all my dad's paperwork. He is 83 and is moving in December. Regarding documents/bills from doctors, prescription documentation and receipts, and insurance documents, I am going to lose my mind -- LOL. So...I have every medical document I have found to date at my house! It is now in chronological order so I can see what appts and what medicines he has been on and why he went to the doctor. I'm trying to get a handle of what's been done and what needs to be done and we are switching his doctors to be closer to his new place and to me. What needs to be kept? My plan is to do a spreadsheet of appointments, what they were for, medicines prescribed, and what needs to be followed-up on. I am fine doing with that and I have done these for my family by year. It is so easy to fill out paperwork, etc. when I have all this information in one place. If I have this spreadsheet, do I need to keep actual documentation except for the current year or maybe the year prior too? I have his stuff from 18 years ago!!! I'm not doing my spreadsheet back that far for sure, but do I need to keep any of it? I want to look through it to see if there have been any majors medical issues I should know about, but I just want to note these. Do I need to keep the old xray and MRI cd's from 2010? How far back should I keep those CD's if I keep any? I have the reports from those tests. He also has my mom's old medical documentation (lots of insurance paperwork) for many years back. She died in 2001 of an accidental head trauma. I really want to shred all of it, but I do want to look through it first to make sure there weren't any issues she didn't tell me about that I should be aware of. I can get rid of all this, right? I do have an awesome ScanSnap scanner that is very easy to use. I can scan it all and then get rid of it, but I only want to spend the time doing that if necessary. My brain is fried so I appreciate any opinions. If it makes a difference, I was an auditor for many, many years and documentation was key in my job -- LOL. Old habits die hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 When we handled mil’s paperwork we kept a year’s worth. We had a binder with 12 pockets and each was labeled with a month and everything that happened in that month went in there- and when insurance EOB came in we put it in with the month the service was performed. We just emptied a pocket when a new month started- so this week we would have shredded last November’s stuff after going thru it. So for instance, if we went through November’s stuff from last year and identified something we wanted to keep (for instance, she had cancer that recurred and we decided to keep some test results longer than a year), it went into a folder in a banker’s box labeled with the year’s date. The banker’s box held all kinds of stuff like their tax returns and stuff, but we didn’t keep much medical stuff. ‘We do the same system with our medical things- and so far it’s worked really well. But we have less than mil had! I wouldn’t keep any of your mom’s stuff from that long ago. It’s a lot of work to keep up with it all, isn’t it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted November 5, 2018 Author Share Posted November 5, 2018 12 hours ago, Annie G said: When we handled mil’s paperwork we kept a year’s worth. We had a binder with 12 pockets and each was labeled with a month and everything that happened in that month went in there- and when insurance EOB came in we put it in with the month the service was performed. We just emptied a pocket when a new month started- so this week we would have shredded last November’s stuff after going thru it. So for instance, if we went through November’s stuff from last year and identified something we wanted to keep (for instance, she had cancer that recurred and we decided to keep some test results longer than a year), it went into a folder in a banker’s box labeled with the year’s date. The banker’s box held all kinds of stuff like their tax returns and stuff, but we didn’t keep much medical stuff. ‘We do the same system with our medical things- and so far it’s worked really well. But we have less than mil had! I wouldn’t keep any of your mom’s stuff from that long ago. It’s a lot of work to keep up with it all, isn’t it? Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! Yes, it is a lot of work to keep up with (especially while dealing with a move). In trying to get ready for all his appointments with new doctors and making sure everything is up to date, I'm needing the records to see what's been done, etc. so I can talk with the new doctors about what's gone on. We have switched medical records to the new doctors, but I wanted to be aware of what is going on outside of the records the doctors are receiving directly from his old doctors. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaz Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 It sounds like you have a good plan in place. Feel free to ditch all the older records! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 On 11/4/2018 at 6:34 PM, mlktwins said: Looking for opinions ? !!! I am going through all my dad's paperwork. He is 83 and is moving in December. Regarding documents/bills from doctors, prescription documentation and receipts, and insurance documents, I am going to lose my mind -- LOL. So...I have every medical document I have found to date at my house! It is now in chronological order so I can see what appts and what medicines he has been on and why he went to the doctor. I'm trying to get a handle of what's been done and what needs to be done and we are switching his doctors to be closer to his new place and to me. What needs to be kept? My plan is to do a spreadsheet of appointments, what they were for, medicines prescribed, and what needs to be followed-up on. I am fine doing with that and I have done these for my family by year. It is so easy to fill out paperwork, etc. when I have all this information in one place. If I have this spreadsheet, do I need to keep actual documentation except for the current year or maybe the year prior too? I have his stuff from 18 years ago!!! I'm not doing my spreadsheet back that far for sure, but do I need to keep any of it? I want to look through it to see if there have been any majors medical issues I should know about, but I just want to note these. Do I need to keep the old xray and MRI cd's from 2010? How far back should I keep those CD's if I keep any? I have the reports from those tests. Make a spreadsheet with the information for easy reference and KEEP EVERYTHING. Medical records get messed up. By some estimates, 80% of medical records contain errors. CD's of previous MRI's can be extremely helpful in some instances. KEEP EVERYTHING. Add a column to your spread sheet with a note of where you store the original information in case he needs it. For your mom's records, look at your states' insurance regulations and find out how long the insurance company has to request repayment for claims paid in error, then keep the information a couple of years past that limit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 I keep it all and I am pretty gung ho on NOT keeping things in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.