needs: Hot mess of medical contact details
There are days where I wish I had Blair Waldorf super powers when it comes to managing all the contact details for everyone on Team Ladybird, but in reality, I am more like a Serena VDW hot mess with it. I love Serena but she survives her life rather than thriving in it. When it comes to medical contacts, I don’t need the drama, I need Dorota!
That moment in the GP’s office when she needs to write the referral for the neuro review that is coming up and she asks to confirm the contact details. I am dumpster diving in my bag for an old business card. That moment when the Physio wants to run something by the Ortho and looks to me for the number and I am scrolling for a contact listed as “Good Ortho that looks like Dumbledore”. That moment when you are at school and need to fill out the late camp form and for some reason it requires treating GP details and I am cracking the google vortex. These are just pinpricks. But they are pin pricking me and constantly suggesting I don’t have this shit sorted for my girl and, well, that’s because I was a hot mess with the contacts.
I get that I am letting this matter. I have tried not letting it matter, but having my shit together with medical contacts matters to me. There are a lot of people in our life who need information and I am the nexus for that information. I need them to have what they need so they can help her. The quicker they have it, the more accurate it is, the more likely the document they are producing gets to where it needs to go as quick as I need it to get there. If I focus on the goal – helping her – and they are doing that, then I really should have whatever they need at the ready.
Surely this is simple? The thing is all the details from our medical contacts were gleaned from old school business cards, reporting letters, referral letters with out of date addresses but no phone numbers, faxes but no emails and random health search engines. What I had was Serena’s closet floor the morning after the Constance ball, when what I needed was Blair’s Louboutins; alphabetised, sorted by year and genre. XOXO
means: The easy fix to managing medical contact details.
This is down and dirty; it might not be perfect but it is a results-based solution. I needed to have the contacts at the ready and to feel better about this. I quit expecting myself to get to stellar 5th Ave office administration and went for a Brooklyn fast fix it.
- To minimise wear and tear on my girl, disruption and expense I keep her team at 6. I run it on a night club rotation. If a practitioner suggests she needs a review with someone new, we drop one. One in and One out. No minions. Just the A-list.
- I have the awesome secret power of the Kmart kick-ass mini compendium. Get it. You know you want to.
- I take business cards. I take lots, more than Chuck Bass gives out. I keep them in my Kmart kick-ass. If someone needs details, I card them.
- In the Kmart kick-ass is a note pad (yes! they have cheap refills). I make my notes there.
- I photo each card and keep it in a folder in photos. I will not always get around to updating contacts but this I can do while paying the bill.
- I always ask for reporting letters, referrals and test requests to be scanned and emailed to me. This is where having a good relationship with your gatekeeper is important.
