By Leah Grebner, PhD, Director, Health Information Technology, Midstate College
| Leah Grebner, PhD |
When getting younger children ready for school, most people simply think about immunization records. However, if your child has any kind of medical condition, it is important that pertinent information is adequately communicated to the school.
The emergency contact cards provided by schools often provide very little space to document health concerns, so parents may not provide all of the necessary information to the school until a crisis occurs. The health and safety of your child should be important enough that if your child has a complicated medical condition that is too detailed for the small line on the emergency card, consider referring to an attached document that provides sufficient detail about the condition and any potential emergency treatment. Communicate with the appropriate individual at the school, who may be, depending on the institution, either the principal or a school nurse.
If your child is involved in sports, scouts, or other extracurricular activities, an additional physical form may be necessary. Find out before your child’s back-to-school physical appointment if your child will need more than one form completed. Otherwise, you could easily find yourself back at the doctor’s office, paying for an additional visit, just to get that other form. Many times, pediatricians have copies of the commonly required forms in their offices, but this is not always the case or the forms on file may be outdated. Check with the school, the school district office, the sports coach, or scout troop leader to make sure you have the correct and 
current forms.
After your child graduates from high school and gets ready for college, they may be 18 and legally considered to be an adult. However, most of these college students have never had to manage their own health care before this time. Before sending your child away to college, create a personal health record to send along with them. Take time to sit down and go through the documents with your child. Things that should be part of the record include:
- Insurance information
- Names of home physicians and other providers
- Immunization history (especially date of last tetanus shot)
- Personal history
- Family history
- List of medications
- Dental records
- Eye records
When discussing personal health record management with your college student, be sure to make it clear how important it is to protect personal health information and keep it private. However, if your child has a medical condition, such as a seizure disorder or diabetes, that could potentially require critical treatment with little notice, also encourage your child to alert somebody close and well-trusted with information about that condition in case emergency treatment is necessary at some point. This type of condition may also warrant purchasing a medical alert bracelet for your child.
Before your child leaves for college, introduce your college student to what may be expected when visiting a health care provider on their own. Explain how to make an appointment and the type of information that may be requested when registration paperwork is completed. Discuss Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the requirement of health care providers to give patients a copy of their privacy policies. Provide information about your insurance plan and explain that a co-pay may be expected to be paid at the time of treatment. Let your child know that at the age of 18, he or she is legally an adult as far as health care is concerned, so if your child wants you involved in care or wants you to have a copy of any health records, it is his or her responsibility to make the request of the health care provider. If your insurance requires use of network providers, check to see what providers near the school are in your network and include a list with phone numbers and addresses with your child’s personal health record information.
If your child is on any medications, make sure there are plenty of refills available. If your prescription coverage is different from your regular health insurance coverage, make sure your child has both insurance cards. Check to find out what pharmacies are covered near the school and explain the details of coverage to your child.
When going back for the three R’s of “reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic,” don’t forget to add a fourth R of “records” for your child from kindergarten through college. Once you get into the practice of the above mentioned activities, it will become as routine as purchasing school supplies every year.
Ready to start your career in Health Information Management? Call Midstate College today: 309-692-4092. We have classes to fit your busy schedule. Visit us online and see what we have to offer you: www.midstate.edu.
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