Keeping lots of random information organized since 1854
The ring binder was first patented in 1854 by Henry Sisson of Rhode Island. Another patent was issued to German Friedrich Soennecken in 1889 for ring binders. Since the early days of the ring binder it has undergone many changes and exists in thousands of different variations. A good estimate is that almost 60 million are manufactured every year in the U.S. alone.
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When life throws you lots of random pieces of paper how are you going to keep them all organized? The versatile three ring binder is the perfect answer. Not only can you punch holes in any paper, you can also buy countless types of plastic inserts specifically made to hold certain types of media. CD holders, business card holders, sleeves for whole sheets of paper, thin ones, thick ones, they all exist.
Medical issues that come up in our lives end up throwing lots of random pieces of information at us and we need a good way to keep it all organized. Medical, insurance, and contact information for friends and family needs to be in one place, compact, and easy to access. I have put together a three-ring binder with lots of handy forms ready to use, get a fully made binder here.
- Important phone numbers – having all of your important phone numbers and contact close by will allow to hand a binder to someone and they can call anyone you need.
- Current Medications – Each time you visit the doctor’s office you will have to provide an update of all the current medications. If you are caring for someone who takes lots of medications, you can bring in all the pill bottles, try to remember each dosing regimen, or fill out a summary. This form was designed to mimic the computer form in your health records. Instead of telling the nurse you can hand them this filled out form and save time and confusion trying to recall what the exact medications are.
- Doctor’s Visit Summaries – Going into your doctor’s office with your questions prepared ahead of time will make the visit easier, less confusing, and you are likely to remember more. If you have many visits this form will also help you recall the purpose of the visit, what was said, when the visit was, and any follow-up items.
- Insurance information – You will have to repeat numbers over and over again. Having these numbers written in one place will save time and energy. I had my wife’s social security number, insurance number, and birthdate memorized after only a few months. It will also come in handy if/when someone else needs to fill out paperwork or go to an appointment.
- Insurance Discussions – Insurance companies will transfer you to numerous people before someone can answer your question, and/or each person you talk to may give you a different answer. If you have it well documented about who you talked to, when, and what they said, your life will be much less frustrating. They have the records in their computer and when you repeat back the same information, they quickly know you have your records in order – sometimes you can even hear their voice change.
- Business cards – You will be amazed at the number of business cards you collect in such a short span or time. Office supply stores sell plastic inserts specifically made to hold business cards allowing you to keep them organized and flip through the pages to quickly find the one you are looking for.
- Pens, pencils, and highlighters – get a plastic pouch to hold all these writing instruments (and a few extras), you don’t want to be caught without a pen to take notes.
- Blank paper – you will take notes, write a letter, or feel the need to doodle when you are waiting, and believe me, you will wait.
- Plastic inserts – odd-sized care booklets are very common in the medical world. They are made to easily carry and read but they don’t fit in normal files. Get some plastic insert that hold full sheets of paper and slide these booklets inside for safe keeping. You probably won’t want to keep them in the binder long-term but this is a great way to reduce the amount of “free-floating” stuff you have to carry.
These are the types of information and things you will need to keep handy. Your particular binder may not look exactly like mine, in fact it shouldn’t, you need to figure out what works for you. Add and remove things as you need to but here is a good start. If you want to make your own binder you download the forms here for free. Keeping everything organized and handy will make your life less stressful and reduce your worries. Times will come when you need someone else to make a phone call, take someone to an appointment, or just look something up. If you have the phone numbers and information in one well-organized place you can easily tell someone where to find it. Most importantly, when you end up making a 2 am run to the emergency room you can grab the binder and run out the door fully confident you have all the information you need.
With almost 60 million binders manufactured every year, get your starter kit today.