It was recently announced that Google Health, a popular personal health record, will allow patients to store their advance directives.
The Central Line a website dedicated to sharing the ideas, opinions and experiences of emergency physicians calls the initiative an “epic fail,” and illustrates some real-life problems of the idea.
While it is generally thought that making one’s health information available electronically to medical personnel is a reasonable idea, doing so with advance directives may not be. Especially in the emergency department where patients often are unable to give a cogent history.
The Central Line notes that, “Our critically ill patients are usually so critically ill they’re not able to be speak, or they’re altered, or too somnolent to be thinking correctly, let alone be able to type and remember their login to Google Health.”
Even if the doctor was Internet-savvy and able to look up a patient’s medical information electronically, “Is the physician going to spend their precious time trying to login to a website to find out if the patient is DNR/DNI?”
I hardly doubt it.
So... while it may seem like a great idea to store your health information online - a book like the Personal Healthcare Journal provides vital health information for you and your family members when it's needed.
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