As we approach the time of year that hurricanes pay us visits... all of us in geographically susceptible regions, must be thinking about preparation.
Personal health records should be atop the list of "first aid" preparation particularly the elderly.
Think about it.. a hurricane hits, your pharmacy is closed, you dont recall your medication list, interactions, dosages and more. You need to have this information accessible. If Katrina taught us anything, it was preparedness makes a difference. Several doctor's offices were closed, people could not reach their doctor's for help regarding their history. Additionally, most doctors have paper based charts, and those in the wake of Katrina, lost many of their files... This was part of the problem that was brought to the forefront of the medical community's attention. It was a precipitant to wake up and move towards an electronic patient record.
A new interesting website hosted by the American Red Cross is http://www.Safeandwell.org , this website was created to help natural disaster victims get updates on the status of family members, friends and loved ones and to potentially communicate with those involved in rescue efforts.
Is there any reason to not take the time to sign up for a phr? I dont think so, privacy perhaps is the biggest concern, but most phr's are committed to not sharing personal health data.
As you know , we have a free phr service located at http://www.PassportMD.com and although there are many others that are very good as well, I can speak to the purpose and success of PassportMD. It is free and you can print off your medication list before any natural disaster and keep it in your wallet or with you at all times.
Take a few moments to do this and to tell your friends about this, it is very important.
If you do not feel comfortable being prepared for disasters using a phr, let me know why so we can address those concerns and correct them if they are an issue with our service.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
