How to Keep Track of a Parent's Medical Conditions

Every new doctor, specialist, and ER nurse asks the same question: "What conditions does your parent have?" Most families answer from memory and leave something out. A medication list makes more sense alongside a conditions list, too, because doctors read them together.

What to record for each condition

1. The name of the condition, as the doctor wrote it, for example "atrial fibrillation" rather than "heart thing."
2. Roughly when it was diagnosed. A year is fine.
3. Which doctor manages it, with their phone number.
4. The medications that treat it. This helps catch a medication nobody can explain anymore.
5. Anything an ER should know right away, such as a history of stroke, a pacemaker, or a condition that affects which treatments are safe.

Don't forget the history

Beyond current diagnoses, note major surgeries (and the year), past hospital stays, implanted devices, and important family history. These come up constantly at new-patient visits and are hard to reconstruct later.

Where to find the information

• Your parent. Start here while they can tell you.
• Visit summaries and the patient portal. Many portals list a "problem list" or active diagnoses.
• Hospital discharge papers, which list diagnoses from the stay.
• The primary care office. Ask for a printed list of active problems and current medications at the next visit.
• The pharmacy. It can't tell you diagnoses, but the medication history often points to them.

Keep it current

A list is only useful if it's right. Update it after every appointment where something changes, after any hospital stay, and whenever a medication is added or stopped. Note the date you last checked it, so anyone reading it knows how current it is.

Who needs to see it

Siblings who share caregiving, anyone who takes your parent to appointments, and in-home aides who need to know what to watch for. In an emergency, it's one of the first things a nurse asks about.

MyParentHQ has a Conditions module built for exactly this, and conditions are part of the Emergency Packet alongside medications, allergies, and emergency contacts. Each module shows when it was last verified by a caregiver. Hired caregivers you invite can see conditions, but never legal, financial, or insurance details.

This guide is general information, not medical advice.