Introducing New Care Features to Simplify Your Health Journey
Introducing New Care Features to Simplify Your Health Journey
By
Katie Knapp, Product Lead
Sep 24, 2024 • 3 min read
For the past decade, PicnicHealth has been dedicated to giving you control of your health by providing access to your complete medical records. We’ve had the privilege of working with tens of thousands of patients, most of whom live with chronic diseases, and through countless conversations, one thing has become crystal clear: managing complex care journeys is a huge challenge. Between juggling multiple specialists and keeping track of different treatment plans, it’s easy to feel both overwhelmed and that no single doctor sees the full picture.
We saw an opportunity to make a real difference in simplifying your care, and we realized that to do this right would require more than just great technology and access to medical records—it also needed the insights and expertise of experienced clinicians. That’s why, over the past few years, we’ve been thoughtfully building a virtual clinic and new tools to ensure nothing falls through the cracks in your care. Today, we're thrilled to publicly announce our first big step in this direction.
Simplified Care, Tailored to You
Our new features seamlessly blend your health history with expert guidance from our clinicians, offering a more cohesive and supportive care experience. We supplement your care team and aim to see the big picture, helping you be proactive with your specialist and preventive care.
Here’s a quick overview of what’s new:
Unified Care Plan
Managing your care can be complex, especially when you’re seeing multiple specialists for different conditions. As we collect key medical records from your specialists, we’ll summarize the important details of the care plan like medications, treatments, and follow-ups. Instead of sifting through after-visit summaries, you’ll find concise care plan summaries in a centralized, easy-to-find place in your account.
Identifying Preventive Care Gaps
Preventive care is crucial, but it’s easy for screenings and other preventive measures to fall through the cracks. Using PicnicHealth’s technology, our clinicians review your records to identify personalized preventive care opportunities, such as missed screenings. This isn’t just an automated process - our clinical team adds context and personalization explaining why certain recommendations are made based on your health history.
Empowering You to Take Action
We go beyond just informing you about gaps in your care, but can also help you fill them. Our team is available – at no cost – to answer your questions and assist with follow-up including ordering tests and screenings. Our support is designed to be low-burden, with asynchronous message-based visits and kits we can send to your home, allowing you to take action on your terms and schedule.
What to Expect
If you’re already a PicnicHealth user, you’ll find these new features in the “Care Plan” section on your Health Dashboard*. We'll typically update your care plan as new key records come in, but if you notice anything outdated just let us know and we’ll update it for you.
We’re thrilled to bring you these features to help simplify your care. And this is just the beginning - we have even more tools and updates on the way to help you stay on top of your health journey. Thank you for being a part of the PicnicHealth community as we continue to simplify healthcare.
_ *Service Exceptions: Please note that care features are not currently available to patients under the age of 18 or in certain states (AR, HI, KS, WV)_
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Create a List
- List the names of all the doctors, hospitals, and other facilities your loved one visits regularly, along with those they have visited in the past. Try to go back as far as you can, striving for at least the last 5-10 years, but do your best. Even if you can’t remember them all, having a strong baseline can help you quickly identify gaps in records.
Ensure You Have the Appropriate Legal Status
It is important to make sure that you are fully empowered to make decisions on behalf of your loved one with Alzheimer’s. Your relationship status with the patient may not be enough to legally give you access to your loved one's medical information. It is a good idea to talk to an expert about securing special legal status, such as Power of Attorney (POA), a legal document that allows an individual to name someone as their decision maker should they no longer be able to make decisions on their own.
Gather and Organize the Medical Records in One Place
It’s important to have all of your loved one’s medical records together in one spot. This makes it much easier for you and your loved one’s physicians to accurately map the patient’s medical journey and more easily share information between doctors. Fortunately, tools exist to make record management and access simple. A free resource like PicnicHealth helps you collect and organize all of this information. PicnicHealth’s intuitive timeline allows you to pinpoint data across the medical history, eliminating your need for keeping heavy binders filled with paper records or keeping track of multiple software portal logins.
Review the Medical Records to be an Informed Advocate
The better you understand your loved one's medical history, the better you can advocate on their behalf. Access and understanding of this information will help you to ask informed questions with physicians. Through regular communication backed by the data in the medical records, you can help your loved one’s care team develop a more successful care plan.
Learn more about PicnicHealth’s commitment to the Alzheimer’s community and the Alzheimer’s Association
Together, we can make a difference.
Learn more about PicnicHealth’s commitment to the Alzheimer’s community and the Alzheimer’s Association
1. Build a support network.
When you’re juggling appointment times and insurance claims, putting a robust support system together might not strike you as the most urgent task. Investing the time to cultivate relationships with people can turn to in times of need will pay dividends. The next time you need a last-minute ride or just someone to listen, you won’t be on your own.
There are many condition-specific support groups and support groups for caregivers generally in person or online. In addition to the encouragement and empathy they provide, support groups can be a helpful source of tips, resources, and recommendations for navigating caregiving.
2. Stay organized.
The backbone of effective caregiving is organization. Keep medical information, appointment schedules, and medication lists in order. Use a planner or a digital service like PicnicHealth to stay on top of your responsibilities. This attention to detail can prevent future complications and reduce day-to-day stress.
3. Explore treatments and clinical trials.
We’ve seen incredible breakthroughs in treatment over the past couple of years, powered by patients and their caregivers participating in research. Stay in the loop about the latest in medical advancements and available resources that could benefit your loved one. Whether it’s a new therapy option or a community service that aids independence, being informed can make a world of difference in the quality of care you provide.
4. Make time for self-care.
It may seem self-centered to focus on self-care—but when you feel good, you can be a better caregiver. Whether it’s exercise, a mindfulness practice, a soak in the bath, or just time to rest when you need it, carve out those moments in the day when you can unwind, reset, and stay healthy mentally and physically. Think of it as building up your reserves of kindness, patience, and understanding—which can only benefit your loved one. No one can pour from an empty cup.
Having trouble managing your loved one's medical records?
Easily manage all of your loved one's medical records and contribute to ongoing Alzheimer's research with PicnicHealth.
LC-FAOD Odyssey: A Preliminary Analysis, presented at INFORM 2021
Data from real-world medical records:
(from 13 patients with LC-FAOD)
16 yrs old Median age at enrollment
38% Female
15 providers / patient
7.5 years of data / patient
Data from patient-reported outcome (PRO) survey
(from 13 patients with LC-FAOD)