The Importance of Keeping a Health Plan

Everyone has a role to play in patient safety, including You!

You are a member of your healthcare team and need to be actively involved in any decisions made about your healthcare. One way to stay actively involved is to know and keep track of your health plan.

A health plan is a record of your past, current and future health information and goals, and it is meant to monitor the progress of your health. The more complete the better.
Just a few benefits of keeping a health plan are:

• access to important information in between appointments
• recorded history from all providers, to prevent gaps in communication
• keeping notes and writing down questions
• keeping track of future appointments and actions
• informing your family and/or advocate to assist in decision making

This is not only important for you to know, but it is also good for you to maintain your own copy of your health plan. Creating and keeping your own health plan is a way to be more involved in your healthcare decision making. Providers can also benefit from information only you know about yourself and have kept records of.

Whichever way it is easiest for you, keeping these records of your personal health is an important tool for staying informed. It may include information such as: 

• an assessment that includes a health history
• a name and description for health problems
• appointments with providers, meeting to talk about the health problem
• visits for medical tests or referrals (i.e. lab results, surgeries, consults, etc.)
• next steps after results and diagnosis
• second opinions, if the doctor or patient/family request
• recommendations for treatment and goals of the treatment
• benefits and risks of any future treatments
• follow-up and review of health plan - notes on progress
• preventative health measures and habits
• emotional and mental health

We have developed a set of My Health Plan templates to help you get started!

Remember, you have an important role to play in your healthcare plan.

There are several things you can do to as part of your role. You have the right to access your medical records, (personal health information). It is safe to ask questions and talk about your concerns, discussing your personal needs and expectations with your healthcare team.  Keeping your plan updated to remember important details. Asking you doctor for a list of resources that can be of help.  Learn the facts about your health problem and treatments recommended, so you are able to make informed decisions before giving consent to treatment.  You can find additional suggestions on how to have this conversation with your doctor here. We also have a video series that explains what it looks like to use a health plan with your healthcare team.

The most satisfied patients are informed and involved in their healthcare. 

For information about other patient safety topics, please visit safetoask.ca and browse through the S.A.F.E. Toolkit or view our S.A.F.E. Toolkit video series.

Learn to be safe!