TAMPA,FL -- Mark Bradley is in the emergency room of St. Joseph's Hospital with back pain and other symptoms of a kidney stone.
Before Doctor Andrew Alexander can treat him, the physician needs to know some answers to important medical questions.
"What other medical history do you have?"
Mark has high blood pressure and takes medication for it. Since medications can interact and interfere with each other, Dr. Alexander needs to know what he's on right now and what dose he took when.
"A lot of this information might seem like common sense to the average viewer, but a lot of people, they don't tend to remember these things," Dr. Alexander says.
"How about any allergies?"
Mark says he's allergic to Naproxen, a painkiller. He told the nurse, who gave him a red wrist band to alert Dr. Alexander. Knowing about allergies is important for many reasons.
"Quite often we have patients that present with an infection and they'll say that they have an allergy to something, but they cant say what that something is, so we as physicians still have to offer an antibiotic, or give them an antibiotic and we’re kind of playing an educated guessing game and we’re not gonna guess right every time."
"As much knowledge you can give someone about your condition and what's happening to you the better."
While Mark knew the answer to these simple medical questions, Dr. Alexander says most patients don’t.
"Some doctors tell me they have patients who show up in the ER with fresh surgical wounds and they can't even remember the name of the doctor who just did the surgery."
"So, the smart patient, the patient that impresses me is the one that writes it down."
St. Joseph's Hospital provides a form on their website, where you can print it out and write down your medical history and the meds you commonly take, along with their dosage, allergies and more. Store it in your wallet and it's always with you.
"You can just pull that sheet out and hand it right to the doctor when you do see them. That’s the kind of thing that will help you in the long run as the patient. You'll get better care provided to you and it’s, it’s a way to be more active in your own health care, cause ultimately you're the one who benefits."
To download and print the card, click
here.
