Whether you are managing medical appointments for yourself or a loved one, tracking appointments, tests, and to-dos can help you prioritize your health.

If you’re scheduling healthcare appointments around a busy schedule for yourself or others, having an organized system can help ensure you don’t miss any or delay scheduling new ones. You can also use it to organize recommendations from healthcare professionals.

Keeping track of medical appointments is one way to stay on top of your health and can include:

  • upcoming appointments and tests
  • past appointments and key takeaways from them
  • appointments you need to schedule
  • questions you want to ask a healthcare professional

You can track appointments digitally or with pen and paper. It all depends on your preference.

Keep reading to learn tips for tracking appointments and health information, whether for yourself or family members.

When it comes to tracking appointments and health information, you can choose from various digital and analog (pen-and-paper) options. Which works best for you depends on your personal preference and comfort level.

In general, a medical appointment tracker helps store all your necessary medical information in one place.

Analog options

Some common analog options include:

  • planners or calendars
  • physical journals or logbooks (you can find medical appointment journals online)
  • printable templates with pages you combine to form a book, either for free or for purchase
  • a blank notebook
  • a folder where you store doctor-provided information and your notes together

Which works best may depend on how much organization you need.

If you have a lot of appointments and take notes at each of them, a physical journal or notebook may be better than a calendar. You can also have space to include the information you need to bring to a medical appointment, including a list of your current prescription medications.

If you just want to keep track of upcoming appointments and to-dos but don’t take many notes during your appointments, a calendar may work for your purposes.

You can also experiment with different combinations of these options.

One plus with pen-and-paper options is that handwriting can improve your retention of written information.

But it may be slower than digital note-taking for some people. And if you lose (or forget to bring) the piece of paper you’re writing on, you won’t have access to your notes and appointment information.

Digital options

Some common digital options include:

  • a smartphone notes app
  • an app designed for organizing your health information
  • a calendar app
  • an app associated with your digital chart that’s maintained by your healthcare professional’s office

Some apps designed to let you store and track health information may have additional features, such as:

  • calendar integration (lets you send your upcoming appointments to a calendar app)
  • audio recording capability (to record your medical appointments if desired)
  • medication trackers that let you set alarms to take your medications or note if you’ve taken them
  • space to write down questions you want to ask at your next appointment
  • ability to share certain information with a caregiver or healthcare professional

It may take some time to get organized and add your information to a digital app. So it’s important to consider your needs and time.

Other factors to consider include the security of your information on the app or website.

Ensuring your security and privacy with digital health apps

Adding your private health information to digital apps may increase cybersecurity risks. You can reduce your risks by:

  • choosing only reputable apps that follow HIPAA guidelines and encrypt your health information if it’s stored outside of your device
  • choosing only apps that require password protection, setting a strong password that you only use for that app, and enabling two-factor identification if available
  • avoiding apps that have a history of data breaches or HIPAA violations

If you aren’t sure which apps have the best security, you can check out reviews in the app store and reviews published by reputable online publications, like CNET, PCMag, or Built In.

More popular apps with more users may be more likely to have robust security in place, but it isn’t a given.

You may also be able to better trust apps offered by larger companies with departments dedicated to cybersecurity, like Apple’s Health app and Google’s Google Fit app, but there are always risks.

Doctor-provided options

Different healthcare systems and doctors’ offices use different apps or websites to grant you access to your health information and patient portal as part of your HIPAA rights.

You can typically access these from a phone, computer, or tablet after creating a username and password.

These apps or websites may not have space for you to take notes. But they may allow you to send your health information to another application.

They may also have other benefits, such as allowing you to message a healthcare professional’s office with questions or request prescription refills.

These can include:

  • MyChart
  • Patient Portal
  • Patient Access
  • Meditech MHealth
  • PatientConnect

Some healthcare systems may have their own proprietary apps.

A healthcare professional may also offer you a printed appointment summary that may include:

  • appointment summary and your healthcare professionals’ findings
  • your vital signs and other test results
  • upcoming tests and appointments
  • orders for tests you need to schedule
  • referrals to other healthcare professionals
  • treatment information, including how and when to take new prescriptions or other treatments

Keeping track of your own health information can help you prioritize your health, manage your healthcare needs, and give you the tools to advocate for yourself when needed.

Being prepared for an appointment may also help reduce any anxiety you may feel about a doctor’s visit.

The amount of medical information you need to track may vary based on the complexity of any medical diagnoses you have.

But you should generally keep a record of:

  • upcoming appointments and tests
  • referrals to other healthcare professionals, such as specialists
  • tests a doctor ordered but you need to schedule
  • test results
  • list of diagnoses and symptoms
  • list of current and past prescriptions
  • family health history
  • questions you want to ask a healthcare professional
  • financial and insurance information if you have it
  • your medical bills
  • accommodations you require for in-person and virtual appointments

Tracking health appointment information may also help you find ways to save money on healthcare. For instance:

  • Tracking your usual healthcare spending can help you predict upcoming expenses. This can be especially helpful if you have access to a flexible spending account (FSA).
  • Reading your medical bills may help you catch and appeal billing or insurance errors.
  • Staying on top of your preventive care and annual testing may help prevent certain health conditions or help diagnose them early.

If you’re a caregiver managing the healthcare appointments of others, in addition to your own, you may need a dedicated system for organizing health information. Some tips include:

  • Keep separate records for each person, including yourself.
  • If you use a calendar, either physical or digital, consider color-coding the appointments to better manage the schedules of multiple people, including children.
  • Your loved one may be able to share their digital health information with you or legally allow you access as a healthcare proxy if needed.
  • It’s important that even when managing the appointments and care of a loved one that you still make time for your own appointments, including your preventive care.

Managing your medical appointments with either a digital or physical appointment tracker can help you stay on top of and prioritize your health.

Many methods exist to help organize your health information, including upcoming appointments, medications, and notes from previous appointments.

Which method works best for you can depend on your preferences and comfort level with technology.

What You Can Do Today

To get started tracking your healthcare appointments, you can try:

  • adding all upcoming appointments to a physical or digital calendar
  • making a to-do list of any appointments and tests that you still need to schedule
  • noting any questions for your healthcare professional for your next appointment
  • noting any important takeaways from your previous appointment
  • creating or updating a list of your current prescription medications
  • keeping all these materials together in a safe place like a notebook, folder, or app