Loading ...Today, the combination of health information and technology has provided more detailed ways to record key medical data for personal use, to share with family and physicians, or to make available in emergency situations.
Personal Health Record
A personal health record (PHR) is a record of health-related information. Today, it is usually electronic and saved on the Web in a password protected, secure environment. Unlike medical records, a PHR is self managed. Anyone can create a PHR by simply keeping a record of information such as allergies, medical conditions, medications and dosages, past procedures and lab tests and results.
You can keep a paper record, but why not combine your health information and technology and put it on the web? This will allow you to easily share information with health providers and family. Keep a wallet card so emergency personnel can also access the information.
PHRs are typically available through health insurance companies and employers, but there are also independent services online. A good source is myPHR.com. The site thoroughly explains what a PHR is and offers downloadable PDFs of paper forms, and a search tool to find a PHR service based on medium (web, paper or software), and pay status.
Most services that are free are offered through insurance companies and employers. Paid services start at about $30 per year.
I could not, however, find any benefit to using a paid services over Microsoft HealthVault. It is easy to use and it’s free. Users can document everything from glucose levels to allergies and upload pertinent legal or medical documents. Certain medical and health devices, such as glucometers and scales, can be connected with HealthVault. Information gathered is stored online. Users can then track and analyze the data collected. Information can be used in conjunction with other online tools to establish and track goals.
Beyond the PHR
If you have a chronic and potentially life threatening disease like diabetes, you may want to go a step further to ensure that your health information is available to emergency responders. Services such as EMIR (Emergency Medical Information Record) provided by MedicAlert, combine health information and technology so that emergency workers can get pertinent medical history fast. A user simply fills out a PHR online (MedicAlert works in conjunction with Microsoft HealthVault). MedicAlert offers additional paid services such as 24-hour emergency response and family notification and a relay service where a company rep can speak to emergency responders (in 140 languages!), and, of course, medical ID jewelry.
Health information and technology go hand-in-hand today. Having a PHR is a convenient way to manage your medical information and take a proactive role in your health and well-being.
By: Anne Burkley
Photo credit: http://marfan.net.au/queensland/showcontent.toy?cid=430581
