Introduction

A system doesn't have to run on a computer (though many do). With this title, we mean any organization method that allows you to keep all your medical information in one organized place. One of the most important, but neglected, pieces of family information concerns your health records. But they often get short shrift, being muddled up with your bills (paid and unpaid!) your next year's calendar, and the medicine cupboard. Maybe you are semi-organized, with records filed according to the various family doctors, internists, dentists, surgeons, and other health care providers that different family members visit. As there's often poor communication between these specialists, each of your records is probably incomplete and inconsistent. You should take the responsibility of organizing your family's health information.

Fortunately, there are plenty of 'systems' that offer support. This short article lists some of them, with links to their websites. But you should visit several of these and make use of any 14-day free offer, to make sure that you've found what you want. There's nothing more annoying than entering a lot of stuff over a matter of months, only to realize the output isn't what you really wanted.

Computer or Paper?

Maybe the first decisions to make is whether you are sufficiently computer-savvy to make use of one of the software systems offered. If in doubt, you should probably stick to a paper-based system where you enter the information by hand, using well-designed forms. We'll consider both types in turn.

Software Systems

Health-Minder - $35.00 Has a section for pet health, and offers a 60-day free trial. http://www.health-minder.com

Health Tracker - $19.99 Much less comprehensive than Health-Minder. Offers 14 days' free trial. http://www.blackcatsystems.com/software/healthtracker.html

Life Form - $29.00 ($39.00 gets you a CD and a 220-page manual). Lots of fan mail from people using it to help them lose weight (diet, exercise programs). No 21-days free trial. https://server316.tchmachines.com/~fitnesof/index.html

Health Frame - $39.50 Seems very comprehensive. Downloadable demo free for 14 days. http://www.recordsforliving.com/

Check-Up - $29.95 Pretty comprehensive. Has a useful feature on individual risk assessment.30-day free trial. http://www.checkupsoftware.com/Overview.html

Take a look at these. You will find that they have many common features. A choice should best be made after you've tried out some of them.

Hard-copy System

Reveal Medical Manager - $24.99 + S&H. This organizer has preprinted forms, calendars, trackers, schedules and logs for information such as diet, fitness, medicines, prescriptions, allergies, appointments, insurances and family history. It's portable and lightweight, ready to take to the doctor's office, pharmacy and so on. See more at http://www.myreveal.com.

My Medical Assistant - $21.95 + S&H. Slightly less comprehensive than the above. See more at: http://www.mymedicalassistant.com/

My Medical Planner - $24.95 + S&H. Small handy zippered binder. See: http://www.mymedicalplanner.com/

So Tell Me . . .Medical Organizer - $24.98 + S&H Similar to the one above. There's an expanded version, with more printed forms. See: http://www.sotellmeorganizer.com/index.html

Personal Health History - $25.00 or $40.00 (deluxe) + S&H It also has a CD with a software version - Caremanager Home Software - for $50.00, which allows you to fill in forms with your PC. See: http://www.healthhistory.com/

Build Your Own PHR - Free!

You can build your own personal health record (PHR) with guidance from a website provided as a free public service by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). Just go to http://www.myphr.com/ and follow instructions. There are free health record forms you can use, too - see: http://www.myphr.com/your_record/free_forms.asp.

A Final Word

Having all your medical stuff in one easy-to-find place is worth a little trouble. Try to find time to select a good organizing method - computerized or not - and make a start. If you can't afford the time or energy to fill in the old information, just concentrate on the medical things that happen (and need to be done) from today onwards. You may find your records are so valuable that you'll want to complete them, working backwards!