A complete personal health record profile shared with every member of a patient's care team, in some cases, could be the difference between life and death. This is no exaggeration. Imagine a scenario where a nurse or doctor clicked the wrong button and now a patient is not allergic to insulin. Perhaps there is an incorrect diagnosis that will now lead to a bad course of care as a chronic disease goes untreated. The alarm bell is ringing. It's time to take consolidating medical records seriously.
Have confidence that it will all be okay with an up-to-date online, personal health record.
Knowledge is power
When a patient knows what is in his/her medical record, it also means they know where the errors are. Consolidating records from every member of the care team will allow a patient to identify and correct errors through a personal health record to report back for adjustment in the doctors system, thus ensuring that things go as well as possible when emergencies strike.
The family bond
Patients who are linked to family members have the assurance that someone has access to their complete medical record when they cannot speak or act in their own best interests. Smart phones are getting better at displaying emergency information, but a complete and easily transmittable health record that can be access by a family member or authorized representative is priceless when a patient is incapacitated.
Proactive patients
The active and engaged patient keeps tabs on their conditions and general health goals. They ensure that all the information is correct, they have shared access with a loved one, and they continue to record information into the platform. By recording vitals and other health statistics in a health record, a patient is recording invaluable data for their care team to review on the next office visit. If a concerning trend is revealed from a proactive patient's reported data, then that patient may have saved his/her own life.
It's not all life and death with a personal health record, and more often than not, 5 minutes a week keeping it up to date will be all that's necessary to provide the peace of mind that all will be well when things get critical.
