Most Metro East readers who cross the river for a crash exam already have a doctor on their own side. A family practice in Edwardsville, a primary care office in Belleville, a nurse practitioner in Columbia or Waterloo. That clinician knows the medications, the blood pressure, the old surgeries, and the knee you have been meaning to get looked at for two years. The crash exam happens somewhere else, in Missouri, with a clinician who knows none of that.
Two clinicians on two sides of a river is not a problem. Two clinicians working from two different stories is. This page is about keeping it one story.
Why the family doctor should hear about the crash
Your primary care doctor is the person who sees the whole picture over years. A crash belongs in that picture even if that doctor never treats the neck. It may matter for medications you already take, for a condition that affects healing, for sleep, mood, or headaches that show up later, and for the next visit where something turns out to be connected. A crash that is missing from the family doctor's chart is a gap nobody can see.
It runs the other way too. The clinician examining you after the crash needs the history your family doctor holds, and you are the one who carries it across the bridge.
What to carry to the Missouri exam
- A medication list, including over-the-counter pills and supplements. A photo of the bottles is fine.
- Your conditions, a line each: diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, a past neck or back problem, a past concussion.
- Your family doctor's name, practice, and phone number, so the Missouri office knows who else is involved.
- Any emergency or urgent care paperwork from the day of the crash, if you went. The discharge sheet is enough to start.
- Your own dated notes on what has hurt and when. This guide's exam record page covers why those dates matter.
What to carry back to Illinois
At the end of the first visit, you should be able to say out loud what the examiner found and what the plan is. Write it down before you get back on the interstate. Then ask the Missouri office two plain questions:
- Can I have a copy of today's exam note and plan?
- What do you need from me to send it to my family doctor?
Offices usually have a form for sharing records with another provider. Ask what theirs is rather than assuming. The federal government's health IT office explains how patients can get their own health records, and the federal privacy rules behind that apply on both sides of the river.
Telling the family doctor
You do not always need an appointment just to put the crash on your chart. A message through the patient portal or a call to the nurse line often does it; ask your practice how they prefer to hear about it. Keep it short:
"I was in a car crash on August 24 on I-64 near Fairview Heights. I was examined on August 26 at Missouri Injury Clinic in Hazelwood, Missouri, for neck and back pain. I have a copy of the exam note and can send it. I wanted you to have this on my chart."
If something in the plan conflicts with what your family doctor has told you, such as a medication, an activity limit, or a condition you are being watched for, say so to both of them. You are the bridge between the two offices in more ways than one.
When your own doctor or the ER comes first
Some things belong with your own doctor or an emergency department before any crash exam. A new symptom that worries you and has nothing obvious to do with the crash. A condition, or a blood thinner, that makes a bruise or a bump to the head more serious. And the bright line: chest pain, a sudden severe headache, weakness or numbness on one side, trouble speaking, a loss of bowel or bladder control, or a head injury with vomiting or worsening confusion is an emergency room trip right now, not a call to a clinic. The nearest emergency department is on the bank you are standing on.
Where the Missouri exam happens
Missouri Injury Clinic has three offices, all in Missouri, and no Illinois location. For most of Madison and St. Clair counties the nearest is Hazelwood, at 14 Village Square Shop Ctr, (314) 627-1411. For Monroe County and the Jefferson Barracks crossing it is Tesson Ferry, at 11144 Tesson Ferry Road, Suite 200, (314) 530-5480. Both are open Monday through Thursday 9am to 6pm and Friday 9am to 12pm, and every office closes daily from 12 to 2. The offices page sorts east bank towns to each one.