Reprinted from
CAREgiver
Chicago
®
Why You
Need a
Personal
Health
Record
obert went to bed expecting to had become a caregiver for his What is a personal health
R commute to work the next
morning, as always. But a call
from his brother in the middle of
father. But unfortunately he was
not prepared for his new role. His
first task, providing vital health
record?
A personal health record is a
tool that allows you to secure the
the night changed those plans. information to the hospital staff, most important information about
Twelve hours later Robert found had become a nightmarish experi- your or your loved one’s health. It
himself 2,000 miles from home in ence. Instead of spending those is created and maintained by you
the community hospital where his precious hours at his father’s bed- to be a comprehensive overview of
father lay unconscious from a pos- side while he hung in the balance your loved one’s health. Most peo-
sible heart attack. Within minutes between life and death, Robert was ple can provide some of this per-
of his arrival a nurse approached making multiple phone calls to sonal health information from
him with a clipboard asking ques- memory, but not all of it. For
extended family and friends trying
tions about his father’s general example, can you recall the exact
to find out his father’s medical his-
health, medications, allergies, and date of your last tetanus shot or
tory. Yet, all of this effort to
health insurance information. your last physical exam? How
retrieve his father’s health infor-
Robert was at a loss to answer any about the results of your latest
mation, not to mention the added
of the questions. And worse, he blood tests? Not many people
stress, could have been avoided
wasn’t even sure whom to contact carry those details in their heads.
to get the information he needed. had Robert or his father created a
personal health record (PHR). Yet that information can be very
Overnight, literally, Robert important if you switch doctors,
CAREgiver Nov/Dec 2006 1
become unable to respond, end up
in the emergency room or your
loved one suddenly turns ill. What should a personal health record contain?
✒Personal information such as ✒Hereditary conditions in your
How can a personal health name, birth date and Social family history
record help you? Security number ✒Permission forms for release of
There are many reasons for ✒Contact information of doctors, information, operations, and
making the effort to create a per- dentists and specialists other medical procedures
sonal health record. Here are ✒Current medications and doses ✒It can also include any informa-
three: ✒Medical conditions and surgeries tion that you think affects your
Saves you time. When you ✒Immunizations and their dates or your loved one’s health,
need answers to questions about ✒Allergies including information that your
your loved one’s healthcare, the ✒Test results doctor may not have, such as
information is at your fingertips. ✒Emergency contact information your exercise routines, dietary
No more calling your doctor’s ✒Health insurance information habits, or health goals you have
office to request a paper file, ✒Living wills and advance set and any progress you are
scrambling to find old prescrip- directives making toward achieving those
tions, or searching for your health ✒Organ donation authorization goals.
insurance information. You have ✒Eye and dental records
immediate access to all of this
information in one place. You
maintain and update these records you to have this information avail- your pharmacist about medica-
as needed. able when traveling or to quickly tions you are taking to get the
Improves the quality of educate other caregivers tending to proper names and doses. Pozen
your care. A personal health your loved one. also suggests including a copy of
record can better help healthcare any medical directive or living will
providers make diagnoses, pre- Getting started: Gathering in your PHR.
scribe medications, and monitor your health information When contacting healthcare
treatment plans. A personal health Some of data you will need to providers you can request copies of
record is especially useful for those include in your personal health your medical records to be sent to
managing chronic conditions such record will be easy to locate and you. You will most likely have to
as diabetes. Many chronic condi- list, such as names and phone sign an “authorization for release
tions require close and continuous numbers of healthcare providers, of information” form before the
tracking of lab and test results, emergency contacts and facts facility will copy the records. In
treatment plans, medications, about your health insurance. But most cases you will incur a fee
office visits and other information. for other information, such as for the practice to copy and mail
A personal health record acts as an immunizations, lab results, and the documents. Your healthcare pro-
ongoing journal to record these eye and dental records, you will vider is allowed to charge a reason-
facts. need the help of your healthcare able fee for this service. But it may
Helps you better manage providers. also save you a lot of time trying to
your loved one’s care. As a Attorney Denise Pozen, cre- track down this information.
caregiver, a personal health record ator of So Tell Me…®, personal If you are trying to obtain
of your loved one’s situation can health organizers, suggests talking records for a parent who you are
make your job much easier. to all of your healthcare providers caring for, have the person you are
Keeping your own complete, to get the necessary information. caring for submit written authori-
updated and easily accessible This would include your primary zation to his or her doctors and
health record means you can play a care doctor, dentist, eye doctor and healthcare facilities. In that
more active role in your loved any specialists you or your loved authorization, your loved one
one’s healthcare. Plus, it allows one sees. You should also consult should include language that gives
2 CAREgiver Nov/Dec 2006
izer is a portable binder system
More reasons you need a PHR? that allows you to organize and
update all aspects of your medical
No centralized database to access your health information. In an history and health information. It
accident, do you think emergency room doctors could get vital information uses preprinted forms to maintain
about you? Twenty-five percent of Americans think so—but in fact, almost a completely customizable record
no emergency rooms can actually retrieve your critical health information. of your loved one’s health. The
system can be paired with your
To avoid duplicate procedures. Do specialists ask you to have blood
tests or X-rays repeated, even though your regular doctor recently ordered
them? Experts say that up to ten percent of the tests that doctors order are
unnecessary or duplicative.
Doctors are not using electronic records. Do you think your doctor
keeps your medical information on a computer? Forty percent of Americans
think so—but only five percent of doctors actually do.
permission to release all informa- Print options
tion regarding treatment and care Personal Health Care
to you, and/or anyone else the Passport (PHCP). This easy-to-
patient wants to have access. use spiral-bound organizer allows
This document might also you to record and manage impor-
include the names of people the tant medical information and
information should NOT be coordinate better choice of
shared with. An example might be care for your loved binders which
a domestic abuse case where the one. The PHCP is a includes a zipper
wife would request that a husband portable booklet binder with pock-
not have access to any informa- light enough to ets, pen, pocket
tion. Then you’ll need to give this pages, legal pad
authorization to the healthcare and more. For
facility’s Health Information information, visit
Management Department. www.sotellme-
In cases of lengthy or perma- organizer.com.
nent incapacity, a legal guardian
for the patient may be appointed
through court proceedings. In that
case, the legal guardian can access
the patient’s health records and
hang on a refrigerator with a mag- Computer/online options
net (for quick retrieval in case of Mar’age PC-based health
decide who else can see them.
emergency) and is easily carried journals. With a PC-based health
How do I create my PHR? in a purse to doctor appoint- journal, you record and maintain
Your personal health record ments, emergency room visits, the the information on your own com-
can be as simple as a file folder of pharmacy or when traveling. It puter with the help of sophisticat-
pertinent records kept in your allows you to document recent ed software that prompts you to fill
home office, or it can be main- changes in health, symptoms, in the spaces with your loved one’s
tained through one of several easy- treatments and medications. information. Mar’age offers two
to-use tools that are available in For more information, visit software solutions: The Personal
print or online. The following is a www.kahnhealthcare.com. Health Journal and The Caregiver
small sampling of what is available The So Tell Me...® This com- Journal which are available as sep-
to help you create your own PHR. prehensive personal health organ- arate programs. The Personal
CAREgiver Nov/Dec 2006 3
Medical provides an online form The future of medical
that can be accessed on the records
Internet where you insert your Health officials have been say-
loved one’s information into the ing for years that we need a
form and then print as many fold- national database where patients’
out emergency cards as you need. medical records are stored and
These cards can then be carried in updated by doctors, hospitals and
a wallet or purse and used when- pharmacists as healthcare services
ever necessary. You can update are used. But the two biggest obsta-
your information as often as you cles that keep such a database from
wish and print new cards in sec- becoming a reality are cost and
onds. For more information, visit security. Who will pay for such a
Health Journal www.handymedical.com. massive undertaking and how can
and Caregiver your personal information be pro-
Journal both tected? Until those questions are
enable the user to answered, which will undoubtedly
record extensive health informa- take a number of years, your next-
tion. The Caregiver Journal enables best option is to create and main-
you to also develop a number of tain your own personal health
reports that can be used to commu- record. It requires a small invest-
nicate with healthcare providers. ment of time at the front end to
The entire personal health record gather and record your informa-
can then be uploaded to a portable tion, but is relatively easy to main-
USB flash drive that can be carried tain once it is in place. And the
with you to doctor appointments or payoff for you and your loved one
easily accessed in the event of an could translate into better health-
emergency. For information, visit care, clearer communication with
www.marageinc.com. your healthcare professionals
Handy medical emergency and the peace of mind that you
cards. In an emergency, time and are prepared in the event of an
information are critical. Handy emergency. CG
CAREgiver
Chicago
®
Reprinted with the permission of
Chicago CAREgiver Magazine.
Chicago CAREgiver
Magazine was created to help
make the difficult job of caregiving
easier. Each issue is packed with
valuable information, local
resources and a world of support.
For a free copy of Chicago
Caregiver Magazine visit
www.CAREgiverMag.com or call
877-881-2273 ext. 303, or send
your request to P.O. Box 179;
Deerfield, IL 60015
4 CAREgiver Nov/Dec 2006