Several new online services make it possible for you to store and manage your personal electronic medical records -- safely, securely, and without the typical headaches associated with paperwork and medical record keeping.
Experts advise you to make multiple copies of important documents, such as legal and medical records, and to store at least one copy outside your home in some secure location, such as a safe deposit box. But neither copy of your medical records is likely to do you much good if you fall ill while on vacation or suddenly find yourself in a hospital emergency room.
The Advantages of Electronic Medical Records
Storing electronic medical records with an online service has several advantages over more traditional medical record keeping:
- If your electronic medical records are online, then you or your doctors can access them from any computer whenever you need them.
- Only people you authorize can see your electronic medical records online.
- Updating electronic medical records is easier than updating paper files.
- Sorting and searching electronic medical records online is much easier than looking through a folder full of physician notes, lab results and X-rays looking for the one piece of information your doctor needs.
- Keeping all of your electronic medical records online provides a single secure location where you can safely store all of your medical records without worrying about theft, fire or accidental loss.
Recommended Online Storage Services for Electronic Medical Records
Money magazine recommends four services that provide a variety of electronic and online storage services:
MyMedicalRecords.com lets you type in data over the Internet and fax in images such as X-rays and CT scan results. The cost of the service is.$60-$80 annually.
FollowMe.com lets you enter text information and upload scanned images. Costs range from $25 to $66 a year.
iHealthRecord.com allows you to create a free, interactive electronic medical record that you can manage, update and share with physicians, health care providers and family members. You can't upload files yet, but the service says that feature will be available sometime in 2006.
Medic Alert e-Healthkey is actually a USB flash drive that you carry on your key ring. It is linked to an online database where your electronic medical records are stored. In an emergency, doctors can use the USB drive to access your critical health information. The rest of your medical information is password-protected. The cost is $85 for the USB flash drive and first year of service, and $20 annually thereafter.
A National Goal for Universal Electronic Medical Records by 2015
Beyond the convenience and security of storing electronic medical records online, it may soon become a necessity.
In 2005, President George W. Bush set a goal of universal electronic medical records within 10 years (by 2015), outlining a detailed plan designed to increase the use of information technology (IT) in healthcare, and to create national standards that would enable medical information to be digitized, stored and shared electronically.
"Within 10 years, every American must have a personal electronic medical record," Bush said. "That's a good goal for the country to achieve. The federal government has got to take the lead in order to make this happen, by developing what's called 'technical standards.'"
National Standards to Enable Creation of Electronic Medical Records
Bush established a new position within the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate government health-IT initiatives, and pledged White House support for national standards and incentives to make IT investment more appealing.
The White House said the plan would include items such as electronic prescriptions, which would be sent to pharmacists in place of handwritten prescriptions, and digital radiology images. The plan also called for the president to order federal healthcare programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Veterans Administration to move toward electronic medical record keeping.
"The 21st century healthcare system is using a 19th century paperwork system," Bush said. "Modern technology has not caught up with a major aspect of healthcare, and we've got to change that."
