What a personal medical history consists of

Of the documents most often asked for at an appointment: discharge notes and reports, test results, vaccinations, allergies, medicines, operations and doctors' contacts.

  • Hospital discharge notes and doctors' reports – with a date, a stamp and a signature.
  • Results of tests and scans: lab forms, imaging reports.
  • Vaccinations: a certificate or a record with the name of the vaccine and the date.
  • Allergies and drug intolerances – exactly as the doctor wrote them down.
  • The medicines you take now: the name and the regimen, as in the prescription.
  • Past operations and hospital stays with dates and the name of the clinic.
  • Contacts of the doctors and clinics you go to.

According to the FDA, the list of medicines is worth extending with allergies and emergency contacts, and updating it every time something changes: a new prescription, a different dose or a medicine stopped.1

Vaccination records go missing most often: the certificate was issued years ago and nobody remembers where it is. According to the CDC, it is easier to keep the vaccination record together with other important documents, and if the records cannot be found, some vaccinations may have to be repeated. Whether that applies in your case is for a doctor to decide.2

What to keep as an original, what as a copy and what to throw out

Keep paper with a doctor's signature as the original; for everything else a scan or a file is usually enough, while duplicates and used slips take up space for nothing.

Originals are hospital discharge notes, doctors' reports, vaccination certificates and operation documents. Sometimes they are asked for on paper, so let a photo or a scan sit next to them rather than replace them.

A copy is enough for what already arrives electronically: test results from the lab's online account, imaging reports in PDF. There is no need to print them out separately.

  • Duplicates: the same test in three copies – keep one.
  • Printouts of what you already have as a file.
  • Used referrals and appointment slips.
  • Receipts – unless you need them for insurance or reimbursement.

Before throwing out an original you are unsure about, check with the clinic or the doctor whether it will be needed. Throwing away is easier than getting it back later.

In what order to arrange it all

First by person, inside that by type of document, inside the type by date.

  1. Separate by person

    If you keep documents for children or parents, give each their own folder. That way someone else's test does not end up among yours.

  2. Inside, by type of document

    Discharge notes and reports, tests, scans, vaccinations. Medicines, allergies and operations are handy to keep on one sheet.

  3. Inside the type, by date

    Put the date at the start of the file name: “2026-03-14 Blood test”. Then the files sort themselves.

  4. On top, a short summary

    One page: allergies, current medicines, operations, doctors' contacts. It is easy to show at an appointment, and it is the only thing you need to keep updated.

How the archive will work in MedKeep

Documents, the profile and doctors' contacts will be in one app, and the document library will take care of sorting by date and category.

  • A document can be photographed or uploaded as a file: PDFs and images up to 50 MB.
  • There will be seven categories: test, prescription, doctor's report, scan, vaccination, allergy, other.
  • Tests and prescriptions will be recognised automatically, the rest at the tap of a button, and only with your consent to the assistant. You check and confirm what was recognised first.
  • You will be able to leave a comment on a document – for example, “taken fasting”.
  • Allergies, conditions and past operations will be in the profile, doctors' contacts in the “Doctors” section.
  • Files will open without internet, and all data and documents can be downloaded as a single archive.
  • Nomi will find a document from a question like “when did I last have a blood test” and show where the answer comes from.

MedKeep will not assess results: what the numbers in a test mean is for a doctor to explain.

The first release will not have charts of values between tests or profiles of family members in one account. History and trends are planned for V1, family accounts for V2.

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