A blog about the latest updates, stories and ideas from the OneRecord team.

The latest updates, stories and ideas from the OneRecord team.

The OneRecord Blog

OneRecord is Now Serving Digital Medical Records to Veterans Nationwide

OneRecord Helps Veterans Get Their Medical Records in One Place

Veterans of the United States, have sacrificed so much while serving our country.  We at OneRecord want to show our thanks for the privileges and rights Veterans protect. Here’s a way to (hopefully) make Veteran life a little easier every time you go see your doctor. 

In short, we’ve created a hassle-free, easy way for Veterans to retrieve all their medical records in one place.  Whether it’s for you (Veteran), your caretaker, and/or any family members in charge of your care plan - accessing and viewing your medical records has never been easier. 

No longer will you have to spend time organizing all those paper records or worrying that your missing one, OneRecord is your single place for all your health information.  

Jimmy Shirey (E5, 1966 -1969) points out, “as a military veteran who served in Vietnam, I have received care from the VA healthcare facilities. I have also received care from a number of civilian healthcare facilities. It is nice to be able to find and merge my VA records with my other health records using OneRecord. I’m glad to have it all in one place.”

This was made possible when The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and OneRecord teamed up to provide an all-in-one platform that lets you easily retrieve your medical records from any of the 1,255 VA facilities and external providers, nationwide.

Plus with OneRecord Share, doctors and other providers can be given read-only digital versions of medical documents and records. When medical professionals know the whole health story of a patient, they can make better informed decisions and provide quality care. 

As we continue to navigate a new normal during COVID-19, healthcare is changing rapidly. Sharing health information with loved ones, triaging at-home, and telemedicine appointments are commonplace, especially among the Veteran community. Digital records may seem like another big change, but they are very simple to set up and understand - and secure to access via the OneRecord app on smart devices or here, on the web.

“It’s a tremendous privilege to serve Veterans,” is a common phrase for OneRecord co-founder and CEO, Jennifer Blumenthal to say. “OneRecord can serve veterans by giving them access to and ownership of all their health information in one place - their OneRecord.”

Veterans, you have served our country and now OneRecord has the honor of serving you by giving you full autonomy over what matters most: your health.

OneRecord is Helping Veterans Get Their Medical Records in One Place

Veterans, Accessing Your Medical Records Just Got a LOT Easier

Why you should always have a copy of our kid's health records available and ready.

3 Life Events When You NEED Your Child’s Health Records on Hand

You’re a parent who’s always prepared: you know which vegetables your child will eat and which they can’t stand, so you always have the right healthy snack around. You know which movies they’ll think are funny and which they’ll be too scared of, so you know what to recommend to the babysitter. You even know exactly where they left their backpack when they ran in the backdoor this afternoon (pro tip: it’s always on the floor right next to their shoes).

Another way you can be prepared? Have your child’s health records on hand. This is simple with OneRecord because you can store and access all of your family’s health information on the OneRecord website or mobile app. While it can be helpful to have your child’s health records accessible all the time, here are 3 life events when you need them on hand. 

School activities, traveling abroad, or summer camp

It’s likely that any group sport or activity will require you to submit some of your child’s health information. They will usually ask for immunization records to ensure that your child and the other children are protected from infectious diseases, many of which are easily contained by standard immunizations. This is the same for traveling abroad: certain diseases are more common in different parts of the world or your child could be bringing germs elsewhere, so you have to prove that your child has received the appropriate immunizations. For summer camp and other sleepaway activities, you must also have documentation of any allergies or medication information. It’s simple to share this information when you need to and even simpler when it’s consolidated and organized with tools like OneRecord. 

If you move cities, change insurance policies, require a specialist, or simply switch doctors, you’ll need to give your child’s health records to your new care provider. Since many health records are digital these days, you can usually have these records transferred between offices. However, you can streamline the process by having the records yourself. Without the hassle of requesting records from one doctor’s office and sending them to a different doctor’s office, you are making your family’s healthcare more efficient. Additionally, you are ensuring that your child is receiving the best possible care since you are providing your doctors with all of the information they need to make the best decision for your child’s care. 

You are the advocate for your child’s health. In an emergency, you must be able to tell healthcare providers any relevant information regarding your child’s health. Emergencies are stressful and overwhelming, so it’s important to be proactive in preparing for them. You can have all of your child’s health records ready when you need them with OneRecord. That way, in an emergency, you don’t have to scramble to find records of any past procedures or medication dosages. You also don’t have to burden yourself by trying to remember all of that information. You can simply get your phone or pull up the OneRecord website to easily find your child’s health records. OneRecord is there for you, so you can be there for your child’s health. 

Start Building Your Family’s OneRecord Today

The company you work for requested your immunization or vaccine history.  Here's why they ask you for those records and what you need to provide.

Why Your Employer is Asking for Your Immunization History

What if an employer asks to see your immunization history? You may be thinking, what does this mean? Why is my employer asking for my immunization history? And, where do I find my immunization records? Don’t worry we’re here to explain why employers ask to see your immunization history.  Plus let you know how to access your medical records so you can share them quickly and easily with employers.

If you have children, you’re probably used to submitting your child’s immunization records to schools, camps, and other group activities. This, of course, is to ensure that your child and the other children are safe from common infectious diseases that are easily controlled by immunizations. 

Employers can ask for your immunization history as a term of employment. This is already common practice in healthcare fields, but it is becoming more prevalent in other workplaces, as well. In short, employers would request your immunization history in order to protect you and your coworkers. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) states that employers can require you to get a vaccine (a flu shot, for example), but you also must be given the relevant information describing how vaccines benefit both you and your workplace.  

Many immunizations are given to you as a child, so your old medical records can be a good place to start your search. Contacting past doctors to locate your immunization history is the best way to locate those records. You can also check in with your old school, university or past workplaces. Some states even have immunization registries called Immunization Information Systems (IIS) that include adult vaccines. If worse comes to worst, you can always go to the doctor and get bloodwork done to see if you have the antibodies against certain common diseases (this would mean that you’ve had the vaccine in the past). Also, you could simply get immunizations again! But it’s never fun to get a shot if you don’t need one, so definitely try to find those records first. 

How to Maintain Your Immunization Records

Once you’ve found your immunization history, hold on to it for the future. This way, you’ll have it for future employers or if you travel abroad. While it can be tricky to keep track of all of your medical records (immunization history included), there are lots of tools available that can help keep your health information organized, accessible, and up-to-date. OneRecord is one of these tools! OneRecord consolidates all of your medical information, making it accessible through the OneRecord website or app. Because it’s all digital, there’s no need for a bulky binder or multiple manila folders holding all of your medical records. Also, this conveniently allows all of your medical information to be portable. You’ll always have your records on hand when employers or other doctors need your information. OneRecord gives you autonomy over your medical information whenever you might need it.

The company you work for requested your immunization or vaccine history...  But why?

Here's The Real Reson Your Employer Asks For Your Immunization History

What is a longitudinal health record? We're here to explain.

What is a personal health record?

A longitudinal health record is an electronic medical record of patient health information generated by one or more encounters in any care delivery setting.

Each visit to the doctor usually focuses on a single reason for the encounter. You may be undergoing an annual physical exam or may have an injury or illness that needs to be treated. Your doctor typically sees you for that particular reason, charts the visit notes, and then goes on to the next patient. Each visit creates a record. Each person has a lifetime of records, but historically medical records have been kept on paper and handwritten by your doctor – making them hard to access. 

Since 2009, doctors have adopted computer systems called Electronic Health Records Systems (EHRs) which create digital records that you can access through your doctors' patient portals and your OneRecord! There are over 3000 Electronic Health Records Systems (EHRs) and there are about 10 that dominate the market. That means that your medical records i.e. your data is living in all these different cloud environments with no single source of truth for you – the owner of the data.

 OneRecord puts you at the center of your health care by giving you access and ownership of your medical records and health information in one place by building your very own longitudinal health record directly from the data we pull via APIs from your doctor.

Your information stays with you and builds as you go through the health care system, instead of depositing information at every stop you make. OneRecord gives you control of your information – to better understand it, to share when you want to, and to empower you to make better choices on your own behalf. 

The term Personal Health Record can be ambiguous.  Here's a break down of what it really means.

What is a personal health record? Everything you need to know

Parents and guardians, here's a guide to improve your family's healthcare and home health organization.

5 Ways Dads Can Improve Their Family’s Healthcare

Alright Dads, huddle up. It’s time to talk about your family’s health. That’s the most important thing, right? The health and happiness of your family. 

You’re already an awesome Dad (we promise), but there are a lot of things that go into making your family’s healthcare the best that it can be: medical records, doctors’ appointments, insurance. The list can keep going, and it can feel overwhelming. Here are 5 steps you can take to ensure that your family’s healthcare is at the top of its game. 

Put Doctors’ Appointments on a Family Calendar

Whether it’s a Google calendar or a big dry erase board in the kitchen, every family should have a communal calendar to keep track of school events, playdates, piano recitals, vacations, you name it. After a doctor’s appointment, you’ll likely schedule the next one. Add this to the family calendar immediately, so you don’t forget. Not only is it embarrassing to miss a doctor’s appointment, but it can have a negative effect on your family member’s health. Regular appointments are important for keeping up with your or your family member’s health and can help prevent more serious ailments down the road. Catch that cavity before it catches up with you!

If the family calendar is hanging in the kitchen, right next to it should be a list of important contacts. Usually, parents have a list of emergency contacts for babysitters or caretakers already, but it’s essential for you, too. Highlight or circle the emergency contacts, but have the list all of your family’s doctors nearby. This can be especially handy if you need to reschedule Danny’s pediatrician appointment on the 6th. He has a baseball game that day! 

This can feel like a big task, especially if you have a large family. Find a 3 ring binder and divide it into different sections for each member of your family, putting the appropriate documents in each section. 

Not interested in a big binder cluttering up your house?

Fortunately, these days there are so many online tools available today that can help streamline this process. OneRecord can consolidate all of your family’s medical records and make them easily accessible on their website or on their mobile app. With OneRecord, your family’s medical records are portable and shareable when they need to be. 

Family healthcare involves a lot of paperwork, and many of these papers are related to insurance. From copays to prescription receipts to other documents from your health insurance provider, we know these papers can be a huge nuisance. Like medical records, you could keep these documents in physical folders, but that can be unwieldy and inconvenient. OneRecord can also keep track of these documents, making sure all of the documents involving your family’s healthcare are in one place. 

That’s right, Dad. One of the very best ways to optimize your family’s healthcare is to take care of yourself. You can only be there for your family if you are your best self, and being your best self means taking care of your own physical, mental, and emotional health. You are a role model for your family so teaching your children healthy habits starts with you. 

Parents and guardians listen up, here's a guide to improve your family's healthcare and home health organization.

See how Mom's can manage their family's healthcare effectively and easily.

5 Ways Moms Can Upgrade Their Family’s Healthcare

Do I need to go grocery shopping? When’s Aidan’s piano recital? Did we reschedule that pediatrician appointment? We understand, Mom. You have a lot to keep track of in order to keep your family, well, on track. 

One of the most important things is your family’s healthcare, but this can often fall to the wayside when you have so many other things going on. There are so many moving parts when it comes to healthcare, too: doctors’ appointments, immunizations, insurance. It can feel overwhelming to say the least. Here are 5 steps you can take to upgrade your family’s healthcare to make it simpler, more efficient, and more organized. 

Put Doctors’ Appointments on the Family Calendar

Even if your family calendar is packed to the brim already, doctors’ appointments should definitely be on there. You can use a Google calendar (or something similar) to synchronize schedules across all of your devices. A digital calendar can make it simple to add doctors’ appointments right when you schedule them. Or, you can maintain a whiteboard wall calendar. There are so many cute ideas on Pinterest where you can find inspiration, not to mention tips on color-coding. Keep this calendar up to date! Regular doctors’ appointments are crucial to keeping you and your family’s health in check now and preventing something serious down the road. 

Keep A List of Important Contacts in a Central Location

You know that list of emergency contacts that you stick on the fridge for babysitters? You need access to that list, too. It should have all of the family’s care providers on it. Emphasize the emergency contacts, of course, but all of your doctors should be listed. This is another opportunity for color-coding! Bonus points if your list of contacts is near the wall calendar, though keeping it on the fridge is still an option. 

This can certainly feel like a daunting task. A three-ring binder could be helpful here. You could divide the binder into different sections for each member of the family (have we mentioned how much we like color-coding?). Want to make this task even easier? Have OneRecord do it. OneRecord can consolidate all of your family’s medical records by putting all of your family’s information in folders that you can access on their website or through their mobile app. So not only are your health records organized, they are also portable. Your family’s health records are at your fingertips whenever you may need them. 

There is a lot of paperwork that goes into your family’s healthcare, and a big chunk of that paperwork is all related to insurance. From copays to premiums to miscellaneous insurance information from your employer, there’s a lot to keep track of. Fortunately, OneRecord can also manage these documents. With OneRecord, you can have all of the documents related to your family’s healthcare in one place. That’s great news because for some reason, insurance documents don’t seem like a lot of fun to color-code.

You can’t pour from an empty cup, Mom. It can be easy to lose track of your own health while you’re busy trying to keep everyone else healthy and happy. Maintaining your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing ensures that you will be the best mom you can be. And it also sets a great example for the rest of your family. Maybe keeping up with your health looks like carving out 30 minutes per day to meditate or go for a walk. However you choose to take care of yourself, you are modeling healthy behavior for everyone else. Your kids get a lot of things from you that you might not even realize; make sure one of those things is healthy habits. 

This health history is a thorough timeline of all of your child’s vaccines. But why are these records important?

4 Reasons Why Your Child Needs an Immunization History

There are many occasions when parents are required to provide their child’s immunization history. This health history is a thorough timeline of all of your child’s vaccines. But why are these records important? And when do you need your child’s immunization history? In short, immunizations protect your child from diseases such as tetanus and polio. When you’re protecting your child, you’re also protecting their friends and your community from the spread of these diseases. Here are four reasons why it is important to have your child’s immunization history handy. 

Whether your child is the new kid in school or the new goalie on the soccer team, most likely, you will be asked to provide an immunization history. This, of course, is to protect your child and the other children at school or on the field. It would be a shame to end the soccer season early with an outbreak of chickenpox, so be sure to have those immunization records ready to submit before kickoff. 

Some diseases are more prevalent in certain parts of the world. Because of this, it is especially important to make sure your child’s immunization records are current before going to camp or traveling abroad. There will be lots of children from all over the place, bringing their own germs from their own hometowns, and your child is doing the same! To protect everyone in Bunk 3, keep your child’s immunization history nearby. 

If your child switches doctors, it is important to make sure you have their immunization history to give to their new healthcare provider. Usually, these records can be easily transferred between offices, but if you have them yourself, you can streamline the process and avoid any miscommunication or loss of information. If a doctor doesn’t have your child’s most recent immunization information, they may be required to give a vaccination again. Although receiving an additional vaccination isn’t harmful, it’s simply unnecessary. Getting shots can be unpleasant for children (and adults sometimes, too!), so keeping your child’s immunization history up-to-date and within reach can avoid redundant vaccines.

Every member of your family should have their health records accessible. It is simple to keep these records organized digitally with tools like OneRecord. Your child’s immunization history is a crucial part of their health story that they will need for their entire lives. The future of their health and their healthcare begins with you. Your child’s birth history and immunization records are often their first pieces of health information. By having these accessible and organized for them, you are setting up your child for a lifetime of autonomy over their healthcare. 