How to Make a Medical Folder

I have filed all of my paperwork you saw HERE away!

You read that correctly! I have filed all of the random piles of paperwork, including the heaping basket full, away. It's unbelievable and feels great to know I don't have some looming task that I wouldn't otherwise know about because it's buried somewhere. I found a few of those tasks, and took care of them!

This post is mainly, though, to show you how I made a medical folder (see pics below) with all medical, dental and vision info, EOBs and bills.

I've also made an insurance folder with our auto & home insurance information & coverage (pics to come).

For the Medical Folder, here's what I did:

3-hole punched everything to fit into my 3-ring binder
Put it all in, according to medical or dental and arranged by clinic for medical, and date (newest in front)
Dental is all in one category with no other dividers by clinic, I may change that down the road (?)
All insurance booklets & general coverage brochures are in the front and back inner pockets of the binder
Label sections with a sharpie or pen

How I made dividers:

I didn't have dividers laying around and didn't want to spend money on them or go to the store in yesterday's nasty weather. So below, I have outlined how I solved that problem with what I had available. You could also make dividers from larger construction paper (you want to be sure it's bigger than a regular sized piece of paper so you can have a tab sticking out to see your sections), pocket/peechee folders, etc. Be creative!

Cut a regular manila file folder in half, up the folded seam
Cut about an inch or so off the bottom (because it wouldn't fit in my 3-hole punch)
There are 3 types of file folders in a box that you buy from the store-
Tab at the top, tab at the middle, and tab at the bottom
You want to make sure that's the order that you make dividers from them so you can easily see your sections
Label sections with a sharpie or pen

Whalla! 

I also labeled the outside of my folder so when it's on the shelf, I know which folder it is. 

This label I am showing is only temporary because I want to get more creative with it. I will be printing something off of the computer for the spine of the binder and the front. I will post pics here once I have done that.

This is a great way to have all of your medical information laid out in front of you, organized by clinic and by date. For me, I like to have all of my bills available to look at and I just can't do that when they're lying around in a pile or in a folder unorganized.

Once a bill is paid, I will keep only the last statement and/or reciept of last payment.

If you have tons of medical information (I purge every year unless I still owe for some reason), use a bigger binder or use more than one! They make huge binders and they have a good selection at Walmart (cheapest retail prices I have found during non-sale times) and I have a liquidation store in my area that sells binders and other office supplies for up to 75% off the retail prices. Check out what you might have in your area!