Electronic Health Record on USB Memory Keychain

Historically, patients rarely had the need for direct access to their medical records. In the past, when visiting a new physician a prospective patient would request that their medical records be copied and mailed from their primary care MD to the new physician. This worked well as long as your visit was planned well in advance. Or, if you got sick and had to go to the local emergency room, your family doctor would meet you there, records in hand. Those days are gone. Rarely is your primary doctor available in the ER. Doctors are now part of large call groups with limited, in any, access to other doctors' records; and most inpatient care is provided by independent hospitalist physician groups without any outside records at all. The federal government has seen this problem and is working, slowly, towards mandating universal electronic health records. But in the meantime, Cardiovascular Associates has solved a small part of the problem, at least with your personal cardiac records.

Your cardiac medical record maintained at Cardiovascular Associates of the Peninsula is paperless and electronic. It can therefore be converted into a single Portable Document Format file. The advantage of a PDF file is that it is universally readable on nearly any PC or Macintosh computer. And once converted into PDF file, your records may be placed on a small USB memory keychain, as well as backed up on a computer hard disk. This file is easily encrypted and password protected. Once you provide the correct password, the file opens to an Index Page allowing easy navigation of your records.

Patient who might find this service particularly useful are those with serious or complex cardiac problems, especially those who frequently travel. Whereas it is not practical to carry your paper medical record with you, when loss of a suitcase might mean your personal records falling into the wrong hands; it is very practical to carry a USB memory keychain with you. In an emergency, or if traveling abroad, you will be able to access all your cardiac medical information by providing the memory keychain and password to a physician. Alternatively, you could have a friend or family member with access to a computer print out a hard copy of the full record.

If you are interested in this service, please call Beryl Odenera at 650.259.5353 for details.

 

USB Memory Key {to the left of Curious George}