Getting Organized

If you are recently diagnosed, getting all your records organized is important but can be difficult. Unfortunately, the longer you wait, the more challenging it becomes. I did not realize initially just how important organization can be to the timeliness of care. For example, because we could quickly get my wife's records to the hospital, we got her case reviewed by the liver tumor board that met the next day. Waiting for our original hospital to transfer records and images meant weeks or possibly even a month delay in getting a tumor board review.

General ideas and tips for organization
CD Images:

First I copy the image CDs to a computer. I create a folder with an appropriate date / name (e.g. 2013 11 23 CT scan) on the computer and then copy everything on the CD over to that folder. You can then use that computer to make copies of the CD image files as needed.

Reports:

I scan all the records into .pdf documents. Again, I find a date / name format works well (e.g. 2013 11 23 CBC labs). Naming things by starting with the date in YYYYMMDD will keep all your records in chronological order.

Lab reports are often only available on the hospital website. Not sure if this is available at all hospitals. I print them out and then scan them.



Dropbox:

It is easy for reports to find their way onto different devices or computers. Moreover, you may need access to reports while you are away from your home computers. I use dropbox to deal with this.

I have found that Dropbox was a great help to keeping things organized and available. I copy all records / image files to a folder on dropbox. That way, I can get any record I need from any device (computer / phone / ipad / whatever) from anywhere.

It is probably a bit of overkill, but it helps to get quick turnaround for 2nd opinions.

Other tips
Please hit the "edit" button right above to add your thoughts and tips to help others get organized!