The business world has learned several hard lessons over the past decade when it comes to the need to preserve critical business data. Words like “redundancy” and “continuity” have become the keywords of the information technology professional and the corporate CFO. The time required to perform daily and even hourly backups is no longer perceived as a waste, but as time well spent. Where previously computer vendors had to discuss the benefits of external storage, now corporate buyers demand such service compatibility.

Corporate healthcare has learned these lessons, too, but for reasons inexplicable to those of us who use the systems every day, this level of security and redundancy does not extend to the most critical healthcare data, the patient’s medical history. Certainly, electronic medical records provide a higher level of data security and redundancy than their paper predecessors, but the kind of duel storage data verification used for the most business-critical information does not exist for patient medical records. In the disaster field office we have learned that if a system is going to fail, it will fail at its weakest link.

In 1999, the Institutes of Medicine published a report titled; To Err is Human and began the national debate on patient safety. The Institute of Medicine report highlighted a number of areas of concern, including medication errors and wrong-site surgery. Now, eight years and dozens of regulations later, the executive director of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has revealed that wrong-site surgery has not decreased, it has increased.

Unfortunately, healthcare professionals, despite their best efforts, fail to create the systems that will ensure your safety in the hospital. Few people are able to remember the complete and detailed treatment plan for each patient in their care. Medical records exist to ensure critical information is accessible to caregivers. The problem with medical records today is that they are based on a centuries-old technology, paper. The risk of a medical error or complication increases when the medical history is incomplete or absent. Illegible handwriting and lack of drug cross-references for incompatibility only add to the danger.

Would you give your money to a bank that keeps your financial records in a dusty, handwritten book? Would you travel in a plane in which the captain sailed with a paper map and a sextant?

Technology has come to the aid of the patient both in the doctor’s office and in the hospital. Kevin Freking of the Associated Press recently reported on the first major corporate sponsorship of portable electronic medical records. Applied Materials, BP America, Inc., Intel Corp., Pitney Bowes and Wal-Mart will enroll employees in a central database to maintain medical records in an effort to eliminate duplications, omissions and errors.

This is a concept that is supported by President Bush and the National Academy of Sciences – Institute of Medicine. Not only does the system collect information from medical records and reports to a central repository, but individuals will be able to provide personal and family information to augment the record. This type of system is envisaged by Whitehouse as a national standard for 2014 and is a requirement for implementation by healthcare providers by 2008. The problem with this online repository database is that it relies on the internet and, although it can only be accessed from an Internet portal. , it is not really portable. You cannot carry it self-contained in your hand.

So how can the medical record be validated at every patient encounter, particularly when patients switch from one doctor to another as their illness, work, or insurance coverage requires?

What if this vital data were contained in a watch, pendant or bracelet that you wear wherever you go?

What if each time your electronic health record was accessed, it was compared to the data you used and any difference required your healthcare provider to reconcile the information?

Stevenson Strategies’ W. David Stephenson made the fantastic suggestion that people keep their medical records on secure U3-enabled USB drives. According to Mr. Stephenson:

“This sounds like a real win-win technology hitting my sweet spot, and in the event of a disaster, a literal and figurative lifesaver, because not only would you have your medical records close at hand, but all your critical applications and business files as well. . “

Thanks to the falling cost of computer memory and USB flash drives, the first 1 Gigabyte Portable Medical Record (PHR) bracelet has hit the market. A personal health record is a software / hardware solution used to store personal information, insurance data, medical records, and medical images. In case of an emergency, or even a routine medical visit, the healthcare professional places the unit in the USB port of any compatible computer. With a personal medical record, your medical information is available where you and your healthcare provider need it.

There are currently 25 companies selling personal medical record solutions. Although all 25 companies claim password protection for the user interface, only one of the systems uses encryption to protect data files from direct access by other software. Encryption is an essential feature for a personal health record.

The ability to ensure that the records are not deliberately or accidentally altered by the patient is also needed, especially if the record includes notes from medical professionals as many of the systems do. Another cool feature would be the ability to sync with the electronic medical record (EMR) in the doctor’s office. With this kind of synchronization ability, a central repository serves not only as a primary data source, but also as an ideal backup for USB data.

When choosing a personal medical record, look for:

* An emergency information screen that appears immediately when the PHR is activated

* Password protection with encryption for information stored in the PHR

* Import and storage of images for X-rays, EKGs and personal documents

* Storage for various emergency contacts (including local contacts and employers)

* Storage for all your insurance information (medical, dental, travel, vehicle, business, liability, workers’ compensation, etc.)

* Lists of both your primary care doctors and your specialists

* Current and past drug lists

* Lists of allergies and reactions

* Lists of past and current hospitalizations, surgeries, medical conditions

* Magazines where doctors, nurses and you can record notes for future reference

* Synchronization with your main computer and an online data repository

* Synchronization with electronic medical records in the doctor’s office or hospital

* Track changes made to maintain data integrity

* USB drive capacity of 1 Gigabyte or more

In the next seven years, all healthcare, by necessity and regulation, will turn your century-old paper technology into modern electronic medical records. The use of portable medical records for data validation is the next logical step in this evolution.

What a wonderful fusion of form and function that could now save your life!