You should play an active role in ensuring that your medical records are safe, current, error-free.

Here are ten tips to help you take control of your medical records –

1. Maintain a personal set of medical records. It is your responsibility to always have up-to-date copies of your medical records. Whether it is a dental check-up or a blood test, get a copy from the medical practitioner and add it to your file, folder, or scan it and add it to a hard drive.

2. Be aware of your rights with respect to your medical records. A medical practitioner has ownership of the physical document that contains your medical record but you own the information therein. This means that as a general rule, doctors cannot pass on the information to a third party without your consent. There are rules regarding the sharing of patient medical records. Read what you sign at the medical practitioner’s office. Think before you sign any document that gives the doctor blanket authority over your medical records.

3. Taking control of your record entails ensuring both data safety as well as information accuracy. This means that you should review and check for errors in documents such as insurance billing, medical test results, doctor’s notes, etc. Request the provider to correct any discrepancies that you note. By law, you have a right to get misleading information corrected.

4. Health camps and health fairs can be attractive money savers with free diagnostic tests and one-on-one sessions with specialists. But you may be required to fill lengthy forms and you may unwittingly part with sensitive medical information that can be later used without your consent. In such places do not divulge information that you feel is unnecessary to the situation.

5. If you are changing doctors, inform your old doctor that you are moving on and would like your old records to be destroyed. The potential for abuse of your medical records increases manifold every time you change a doctor and your old records lie around unused without being updated.

6. Your Social Security Number is a valuable identifier and is prized by identity thieves that can use to access not just your medical records but a host of other information about you. Keep your social security number safe.

7. Be aware of the threats to the privacy of your medical records. These need not always be people with mala fide intent. Sloppy work and administrative negligence can be equally devastating; it can lead to misdiagnosis with serious consequences for the patient.

8. Find out if the healthcare individuals and organizations that you interact with have adequate measures in place to protect your medical information. HIPAA laws require that patient medical records confidentiality be maintained and disclosure should be responsible and limited.

9. Having an electronic back-up copy of your personal medical record is a wise thing to do. Portable flash drives with pre-installed software for entering data are available. Since Electronic Medical Record Systems (EMR) are becoming increasingly popular with physicians, getting an electronic copy is now easier for patients.

10. Lastly, be informed about how medical records can be distributed. For instance, contrary to popular belief health providers can actually exchange your medical information through fax and also email; however, the involved parties need to have policies in place for protecting electronic information.