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Medical Records Online - The Future Is Here!
One of my tasks as the Webmaster is to keep the membership aware of technology advances so that you can keep up with the rest of the world. With some of you I find I have to do so by dragging you kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Over 50% of our membership now has email addresses that they furnish to the Academy. It is hoped that more and more of you will make use of this technology in the future to help speed communications among the members. But that is another story for another issue. Today I want to introduce you to a website where you can maintain limited medical records for you and your family members, or your patients can use it as well. It is free. It is easy to use. It is confidential and is available only to those whom you authorize to see it. Now why is this important you might ask, you have medical records in your health care provider's office. But are they readily available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, anywhere in the world? The site is called http://www.wellmed.com/. I am sure there are other similar service sites out there but this is the one I have been using personally. I find it easy to use. The service is paid for by advertisers for health products on their website so its' cost you is nothing. WellMed is an online personal health management service company that was founded in 1993. It is physician owned and operated. It is available to individuals or to companies on a group basis to their employees. When you sign up for the service you will receive a user name and ID that only you know thus no one else will have access to the records. Companies are using this as part of their wellness programs for their employees. The main function of the service is to allow individuals to accurately measure their own health and receive personalized information relevant to their specific needs. You input the information about your past and current health conditions; medications; allergies; surgeries; and immunizations. It will do a large number of things for you. It will tell you when you need updates on immunizations, follow up on your medical conditions, and create online summaries for you. It will even tell you what you need to do to improve your health. Given all the information you wish to give, it will create an Emergency Information Summary. It will contain the usual identification data i.e., name, address, and such. It will include insurance and emergency contact information, health conditions, allergies, surgeries, medications and dosage, and immunizations. Once you input all the information you can print it out. This is nice to have when you go visit a new provider's office, like when you are referred to a specialist. You can also get an Emergency Information Card made providing the information you give. And you can edit it online to provide only the information on it that you want there. If you try to put too much information on it, the program tells you where you need to edit down to a size of information that can be printed on the card. You review and edit until you and the computer program are satisfied, then you can order a card to be sent to you. A nice laminated card will be mailed to you several weeks after requesting it online. I keep one in my wallet and one in the glove compartment also. I also keep a full copy of the Emergency Information Summary, and a copy of my Living Will and Advanced Directives in the car also. I even put on the Emergency Information Card that those documents are in the car. Police and emergency personnel usually look in those places in accidents where the victim is unconscious. Be prepared. Make use of the technology out there today - your patients are doing that! |
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