[Nfbmo] Panel on How the Health Care System Treats the blind

[Daniel Garcia]

On Sunday's general session there was a panel discussion on how the health care system treats blind people whether they are patients or family members of patients. If memory serves me, it was Carol Morgan who talked about the challenges of filling out medical paperwork. Due to time Constraints there was no opportunity for Q&A or comments from the floor.

If the doctor's office does not send the paperwork by mail in advance of the appointment for you to fill out, another way of dealing with this issue is to take to the doctor's office a printed paper with the type of information they are likely to ask for. Most medical forms ask for your contact info, your primary doctor, medicines you take on a daily basis and their dosage, allergies, surgeries, family history of certain diseases, etc. Of course, the social security number is not something to be said out loud on a crowded waiting room as Carol pointed out. This information can be given in private to a staff member or nurse once they call you into a room.
I hope that this message prompts other people to ask the questions or bring up the comments they were not able to bring up at convention.
Best Regards

Daniel H Garcia
Board Member NFB of Missouri
First Vice President Kansas City Chapter NFB of Missouri