Clancy, what is a personal health record?
Dr. Clancy: A personal health record consists of all of your medical information stored in one place. This information can include the results of x-rays, a record of prior surgeries that you’ve had, the medications that you take, or laboratory tests. Very, very important to have access to this information if you confront an emergency, if your home should be flooded, if for some reason you were to need urgent medical treatment, the people taking care of you would need to know about that. In a national survey of Americans, seventy percent noted that coordination of their information among their health professionals was a problem. So, about a third of Americans report that they now keep their own records so their health professionals will have all their records when they’re seeing them. Rand: Why is it so important that we keep personal health records? And why should they be computerized? Dr. Clancy: Many people get care from multiple physicians, they may go to an urgent care clinic if th
