What is a Medical Summary

A medical summary is a document of your personal health history listed in chronological order. It has details about any health problems you’ve ever had, previous and current medical treatments, your current medical status, and recommendations for future medical care.

A typical medical summary may include the following:

  • Reason for consultation
  • Past medical history
  • Family History
  • Additional medical conditions and medications
  • Past surgeries performed
  • Tests and procedures performed
  • Blood Test results
  • Diagnostic test reports such as CT, MRI, Scans, etc.
  • Complete diagnosis
  • Biopsy results – genetic alterations/receptor expression that was detected
  • Known mutations – BRCA/BRAF/EGFR, for example
  • Previous treatments and procedures, including the names of the drug received, the treatment protocol, and the treatment response.
  • Previous surgery and the result of the surgery
  • Current physical status

Future treatments with an explanation as to why a specific treatment was preferred.

Although the medical summary may differ slightly from country to country, it is the patient’s right to obtain a copy of the medical summary.
Moreover, patients and caregivers who are familiar with the medical summary are better able to share medical information with other health professionals and advocate for the most appropriate treatment.

This content is provided for your general education and information only. It does not necessarily reflect Belong’s views and opinions. Belong does not endorse or support any specific product, service, or treatment.

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