Here are a few reasons you may want to obtain and maintain your own health information:,

1. To provide continuity of care

2. For your own reference

3. For future generations

4. To gain a greater understanding of the healthcare system

5. To increase efficiency and reliability of health information

6. To increase our own responsibility for our health

7. To increase the accountability of healthcare providers

Health Information Mangement(HIM) or Medical Record professionals provide many valuable services to the healthcare consumer they can do this by providing information to you, facilitating access to your records, and answering any questions you have about your health information. In addition, the HIM professional at your local hospital can recommend resources to help you wade through your health record. HIM professionals really are a wealth of information. In most cases, however, because of the way healthcare facilities are organized, you need to initiate the contact with the HIM professional. That’s why it is important for you to understand the HIM department and seek it out.

Individuals in the HIM department are trained to provide certain basic services for you and for your health information. The list below contains the typical, basic responsibilities of an HIM professional.

Typical responsibilities of the health information professional that involve or affect you:

The Happy Times in Healthcare Podcast is here to help healthcare consumers become better educated in order to receive the best possible healthcare available to them. This new podcast series covers a wide variety of topics including paying for healthcare - when you are insured and when you are not insured, selecting a new physician , using healthcare quality rating tools, and understanding your medical record. In this episode:

Is Healthcare a Right or a Privilege? - We all inherently believe that healthcare is or should be a right. However in the US, the answer to the question, is healthcare a right or a privilege is not so straightforward.

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We all inherently believe that healthcare is or should be a right. However in the US, the answer to the question, is healthcare a right or a privilege is not so straightforward.

Allergists treat disorders involving the immune system like asthma, anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction), eczema, and adverse reactions to drugs, foods, and insect stings as well as immune deficiency diseases.

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Medical geneticists are trained in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for patients with genetically linked diseases. These specialists use modern cytogenetic, radiologic, and biochemical testing to assist in specialized genetic counseling. This physician implements needed therapeutic interventions and provides prevention through prenatal diagnosis. A medical geneticist also plans and coordinates screening programs for various genetic disorders. Training beyond residency is two to four years of fellowship.

The Happy Times in Healthcare Podcast is here to help healthcare consumers become better educated in order to receive the best possible healthcare available to them. This new podcast series covers a wide variety of topics including paying for healthcare - when you are insured and when you are not insured, selecting a new physician , using healthcare quality rating tools, and understanding your medical record. In this episode:

Your Rights as a Patient - While American healthcare is a right only for certain classes of individuals, once you become a patient, regardless of your ability to pay, you do have some guaranteed rights. And, yes, your rights come along with additional responsibilities as well.

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While American healthcare is a right only for certain classes of individuals, once you become a patient, regardless of your ability to pay, you do have some guaranteed rights. And, yes, your rights come along with additional responsibilities as well.

As mentioned in today's podcast here is the Patients Bill of Rights

The Patients’ Bill of Rights, adopted by the Federal Government in 1996, gives each of us 7 basic rights as patients. These rights are:

I am pleased to announce that advance copies of my new book 7 Steps to Your Best Possible Healthcare are now available.

Whether you’re healthy or ill, this guidebook will show you how to become a more proactive participant in the management of your healthcare. The book, which weaves together stories of healthcare challenges with lessons learned to help you deal with your own challenges, will:

• Teach you to create your own healthcare values, vision, and mission statements
• Familiarize you with the information in your medical records so you can read them, understand them, and keep your own records
• Recommend strategies for you to improve your communications with your doctors and other healthcare providers
• Describe the quality tools that you can use to decide where you want to receive your healthcare
• Discuss issues in healthcare ethics that could impact you and your care
• Provide a roadmap to the healthcare system so that you will feel more in control of your healthcare and the decisions you make

You can save 10% of any order from www.djiberstore.com as a reader of this site by entering the code ruthannrusso.com at checkout.

As a follow up to the original Happy Times in Healthcare I’ve release a new eDoc More Happy Times in Healthcare featuring positive stories about the healthcare system from real people. This 53 page eDoc is available for purchase and immediate download from DJ Iber at www.djiberstore.com for $8.95.

As a benefit for readers of this site you can enter the code ruthannrusso.com at checkout to save 10% on any order from djiberstore.com.

It is rare today to receive all of your healthcare needs from one healthcare provider in the same location. Many of us need to change doctors because we’re moving to another part of the country or because we have changed jobs and health plans. Often our health conditions necessitate being seen and treated by more than one physician. For example, an individual with diabetes and diabetes-related complications, such as diabetic renal failure and retinopathy will likely need three or four different physicians: a primary care physician to coordinate all care, an endocrinologist for the diabetes control, a nephrologist for the kidney failure and an ophthalmologist for the retinopathy.

I have released a new eDoc, The Health Information Profession, which provides the healthcare consumer with an introduction to the Health Information Management department, often referred to as the Medical Records department, how the department is operated, the resources available to patients and how you can use these resources in planning your healthcare.

This eDoc explores the following topics:
• The Role of the HIM professional in the hospital setting
• How the HIM professional can help the consumer with health planning
• The career outlook for becoming a HIM professional
• The education requirements for becoming an HIM professional

As a benefit for readers of this site you can enter the code ruthannrusso.com at checkout to save 10% on any order from djiberstore.com.

The Happy Times in Healthcare Podcast is here to help healthcare consumers become better educated in order to receive the best possible healthcare available to them. This new podcast series covers a wide variety of topics including paying for healthcare - when you are insured and when you are not insured, selecting a new physician , using healthcare quality rating tools, and understanding your medical record. In this episode:

Who Monitors Your Rights in the Hospital? - Although most of your interactions in the hospital are with physicians, nurses, and other clinicians, the hospital's management team, led by the CEO, works to uphold your rights. If you ever feel your patient rights have been violated in a hospital, you shouldn't hesitate to bring this complaint to the attention of a hospital manager.

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Although most of your interactions in the hospital are with physicians, nurses, and other clinicians, the hospital's management team, led by the CEO, works to uphold your rights. If you ever feel your patient rights have been violated in a hospital, you shouldn't hesitate to bring this complaint to the attention of a hospital manager.

A general surgeon may manage surgical conditions in the following areas: gastrointestinal tract; abdomen; breast, skin, and soft tissue; endocrine system; head and neck surgery; pediatric surgery; surgical critical care; surgical oncology; trauma and burns; and vascular surgery.

An ambulatory surgery center (ASC) provides outpatient surgery to patients. ASCs are freestanding or based within a hospital. The plan for these patients is to admit and discharge them on the same day. However, some ASC patients who experience complications may require admission to a hospital. Because complications may arise from any surgical procedure, you should consider the ASC’s affiliation with a hospital. If it does not have one, determine how far away the ASC is from a hospital in case providers need to transfer you.

Kaye Trout from kayetrout.blogspot.com recently posted a brief review about my new book the 7 Steps to Your Best Possible Healthcare:

“Ruthann Russo has written this wonderful, comprehensive healthcare book to help us better understand our healthcare rights and responsibilities and to answer questions related to our complex healthcare system.”
Read Kaye’s full review on her blog.

Patients do own their health information, but it is a generally accepted understanding in the healthcare industry that the healthcare provider who collected the information owns the medium on which it is stored. This means, at least in the non-digital world, that the provider also owns the original copy of your health information.

A thoracic surgeon provides the operative care of patients with pathologic conditions in the chest. This includes surgery for coronary artery disease, lung cancer, and abnormalities of the heart valves. Thoracic surgeons, sometimes also referred to as cardiothoracic surgeons, are under some of the greatest scrutiny by the public. Quality ratings, Medicare, and even local newspapers report on mortality ratings for coronary artery bypass surgery more frequently than any other surgery. Surgeons who do the greatest number of coronary surgeries have the best quality ratings and the best outcomes.

The Happy Times in Healthcare Podcast is here to help healthcare consumers become better educated in order to receive the best possible healthcare available to them. This new podcast series covers a wide variety of topics including paying for healthcare - when you are insured and when you are not insured, selecting a new physician , using healthcare quality rating tools, and understanding your medical record. In this episode:

Informed Consent - In this podcast I discuss the notion of informed consent in the healthcare setting, why it is important to your overall healthcare and share an informed consent story from a recent physician visit.

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In this video I discuss the notion of informed consent in the healthcare setting, why it is important to your overall healthcare and share an informed consent story from a recent physician visit.

I have a new 31 page eBook available entitled the Economics of Healthcare, Why Buying Healthcare Isn’t Like Buying Anything Else is now available online from djiberstore.com for purchase and immediate download.

Buying healthcare is different from buying anything else for several reasons, including: information, unpredictability, payment, emotion, and responsibility. You can use this book to help you understand why healthcare is different as well as what you can do to improve your actions as a healthcare consumer.

As a benefit for readers of this site you can enter the code ruthannrusso.com at checkout to save 10% on any order from djiberstore.com.

A colon and rectal surgeon is trained to diagnose and treat various diseases of the intestinal tract, colon, rectum, anal canal, and perianal area by medical and surgical means. This specialist also deals with other organs and tissues (such as the liver, urinary, and female reproductive system) involved with primary intestinal disease. Training post-residency is generally two years of fellowship. Certification is through the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery.