A closer look at Microsoft’s HealthVault

No, this isn’t meant to be “official” patient medical records. I believe the idea is that it helps to clarify for everyone, for example, what meds the patients are actually taking.

As an internal medicine doc myself, I would not totally trust the diagnoses they put down to be accurate (not that they would lie, but that perhaps they would use the wrong terms).

The HealthVault isn’t meant to be an electronic medical record. No, patients do not and should not have control over their official medical records. But I implore everyone to know what their medical problems are and what meds they are on.

I can’t tell you the number of times a day when I see a patient in the ER and he/she either has no clue about what meds or dosages or just forgot the med list at home. Sometimes the med list in their wallet/purse is out-dated. Talk about liability there…to be caring for critically ill patients and not know what meds and dosages they are on.

I found HealthVault to be rather cumbersome to use. A bit too complex, even though I am a medical professional. I was looking for something simpler to use, and I found http://www.mysimplemeds.com. All I was looking for was a secure site to help patients organize potentially complex medical info, and this seems to do the job.