One of the things that this week’s Amtrak derailment got me thinking about was health related matters. Watching the scene – with all the flashlights and train parts disconnected – was harrowing enough, and I was at home in our family room. Being there at the scene was undoubtedly much more challenging.
In watching the news coverage, it was evident to me that we live in a technologically different world than we lived in even a few short years ago. Moments after the wreck, a torrent of tweets were flying and video footage taken with passenger cell phones was showing clips of the carnage.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all involved.
The State of Technology
Coincidentally, that same day I upgraded my phone with a new operating system. After the two hour update, I noticed an app on the desktop with a heart on it that I’d never seen before. So I checked it out. Lo and behold, it’s an app, which is included on phones running ios 8, and it stores your medical information. I was thinking how valuable that would be to first responders. They are learning that an unconscious patient’s phone can be a vital source of health information. Even if your screen is locked, it can be accessed from the Emergency button below the keypad where you enter your PIN.
It was actually, in a very simple way, what I had been personally looking for to record my own health information. Now, if you’re out of town and there’s a medical emergency, you don’t necessarily have to go through giving the same information each and every time to all the hospital personnel. It’s right there. Of course, it would be nice to do an air drop of the information right into the medical institution’s hospital database, but that may be asking too much at this point.
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Where do we go from here?
It is amazing to me that if we go to two separate hospitals or clinics, the second one often doesn’t have the records from the first one. I know someone who was in the military that said when she got back into civilian life, she was appalled at how little cooperation there was among medical institutions. In the service, you would carry your records with you from one location to the next. I always thought it would be nice if there was some sort of central repository that kept all of our health records.
I’m sure privacy concerns abound and hacking may be an issue here. And I’ve finally come to the realization that record synchronization among hospitals, clinics and doctors’ offices probably won’t happen in my lifetime. It’s up to us to compile our medical history, our vital signs, allergy information, medications and blood type in a safe place. No one else is going to do it for us.
A relative of mine once had an EKG in his home state. Then, when he was on vacation, he had similar symptoms and went to an ER. The doctor had nothing to go on until he pulled out a copy of the EKG, which he had on his ipad, stored in Evernote. The doctor was ecstatic! He was now able to use that information to diagnose and treat him more effectively.
Years ago, I read a book by Ruthann Russo, Ph.D, entitled 7 Steps to Your Best Possible Healthcare: The Essential Guide for Crafting Your Personal Healthcare Plan. It gave me some ideas about taking more control of my medical records. Since then, I’ve thought about it, but I must admit I haven’t done much toward harnessing the information.
In light of what happened this week, I think it’s time.
