My Care Record — build the record your insurer asks for

This stays on your device. Nothing you type here is sent to us or to anyone else — there is no account, no login, and no server copy. It is saved in this browser only. That also means: if you clear your browser data or switch devices, it’s gone, so print or save a copy once you’ve built it up.

Why this is worth ten minutes

Insurers generally will not approve a knee or hip replacement on pain and an X-ray alone. They want the chart to show that non-surgical treatment was genuinely tried and didn’t work — often three months or more, documented before surgery is scheduled. Most people have tried plenty. Almost nobody has a record of it, and that gap is where the waiting happens.

And if the opposite turns out to be true — that something you tried did help — that is worth knowing just as clearly. Plenty of people improve enough that an operation stops making sense. This record is built to show either answer honestly.

1 · What have you tried?

2 · How things are going

Your clinician may use a formal score such as KOOS or HOOS. These are simpler questions in the same spirit — the point is to capture a number today so that change over time is visible rather than remembered.

Pain in the last week, at its typical worst — 0 is none, 10 is the worst you can imagine

How much is it limiting what you do? — 0 is not at all, 10 is completely

Roughly how far can you walk comfortably? Is it waking you at night?

One more thing worth tracking, because clinicians do. Pain is affected by sleep, stress, and mood — that isn’t a judgement about whether the pain is real, it’s just how pain works. Some surgeons now look at a brief mood and anxiety screen alongside the joint score, because when those are running high, addressing them first often changes the whole picture. If the last couple of weeks have been hard, that is worth saying out loud at your appointment. It is information, not a black mark — and if things feel heavier than usual, please tell a clinician directly rather than only writing it here.

2b · Import from Apple Health — optional, and it never leaves this page

If you carry an iPhone, it has already been measuring your walking — speed, step length, how evenly you load each side, how long both feet are on the ground, stair speed. Those are the same things a surgeon watches, measured continuously for months or years before anyone thought to ask. You can pull them in here instead of estimating from memory.

How to get the file: open the Health app → tap your photo, top right → scroll down to Export All Health Data → save the zip, then unzip it and choose export.xml below. The export can be large; unzipping on a computer is easiest.

The file is read in your browser and nowhere else. It is never uploaded — this page has no server to upload it to. Only the walking measures listed above are looked at; everything else in the export is ignored and none of it is stored unless you press save.

3 · Your record

What to do with it

Bring it to your appointment, on paper if you can — and ask that the relevant parts go into your chart. You’re allowed to do that, and it works better than trying to reconstruct two years of history from memory in a fifteen-minute visit. If you’re getting ready for that conversation, the guide on what insurers actually require explains the rules, and the question builder will give you a list to bring alongside this.

When you’re ready to see someone, the surgeon directory lists orthopedic surgeons near you from the national registry, and flags which ones offer personalized, implant-agnostic planning. Nobody pays to be listed there, and we receive nothing based on who you choose or whether you have surgery.

SurgeryProcess — plain-language, physician-reviewed surgical preparation. All guides · Home
Educational only — not medical advice, and not a substitute for evaluation by a clinician. This tool does not diagnose anything and does not decide whether you need surgery. Coverage requirements vary by plan, state, and procedure; confirm yours with your insurer. Always follow your surgeon’s instructions.