Ok,  So you do this and someone by mistake adds that you recently had an STD.  Was not you, however now this info is all over the place.  Then there is a security mishap and your records are made public and now everyone who sees your public records thinks you had an STD, when you had not.  Maybe someone at your church sees this mistakenly public release.  Then the rumor mill starts....  About 8 years ago some bureaucrat took a disk home that contained the records of 2.6 million veterans.  His house was burglarized and the disk stolen.  It contained names, DOB's and SSI #'s.  It was against policy for that data to leave the building where he worked. Too much technology concerns me. ------------------------ Keith Smith --- On Wed, 3/13/13, joe@actionline.com wrote: From: joe@actionline.com Subject: Re: OT: (or not?) What is the best PHR Personal Health Record service? To: "Main PLUG discussion list" Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2013, 12:54 PM Thanks to Keith Smith, Michael Butash, and AZ Pete for your responses. Keith asked, in part: > What is our Primary Care Physician doing? > Do you really want a central repository of your medical records > for the Gov to poke into? As AZ Pete pointed out, The gov't already has almost all the info so ... my point, like Pete's is ... it's about time individuals should have access to their own records. > What is the benefit? There would be tremendous benefits!  Here are just a thoughts: First ... Thank God, I have been remarkably health all of my life and have but very rarely needed to see a doctor for anything. Hoever, the inescapable hard reality is that each and every one of us is going to need medical treatment for something if not multiple things at some point(s) in our lives as we age. So, why should one have to fill out the same medical history information (99% of which is probably irrelevant) every time one sees a new or different doctor or specialist? Personally, I really could not care less what anyone else sees about my medical history or current conditions (though I certainly agree that some security to protect such information rather than posting it all on facebook would obviously be prudent). Recently, I changed doctors, and after my new doctor sent a fax to my previous doctor with my signature "releasing" the records, long delays, and no response, I finally had to drive to the previous doctor's office to talk the former doctor into releasing *my* records to me and pay for copies to be made.  Ridiculous. Then I had to go to three different specialists, including primary care, opthamologist, and neurologist, and fill out all the same medical history information for the first visit at each place and take copies of certain records from one place to another. All of this a huge and needless nuisance that having a "PHR" resource would have avoided. Moreeover, all the recent information lacks important background information. I want any and all doctors, dentists, chiropractors, and any other health-care professionals (as well as my wife and other family members) to have easy and fast access to any of my medical records. Also, when traveling to another state or country, if I should need any kind of treatment, I want that same kind of easy and fast access. There are dozens of other benefits (i.e. having universally available accurate information on any past or current medications, side-effect reactions, current med interaction risks, allergy info, vaccination records, family history, previous conditions info, and continually updated, up-to-the-minute treatment reports, etc.) The real question is not, "What are the benefits" but rather, "Why not have any and all applicable information uniformly available instantly, on-line, to any and all health-care professionals one might use anywhere one might move or travel? --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss