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

The OneRecord Blog

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

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. 

For parents, grandparents, and all the relationships in between, it can really helpful for family members to have and share access to medical records and family health history.

When To Share Your Medical Records with Your Family

Your personal medical records are exactly that: they are “yours” and they are “personal.” They contain much of your most sensitive information, and it would make sense that they would remain private for your eyes and your eyes only. You’re never required to share your medical records with anyone outside of your healthcare provider. And according to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (better known as HIPAA), your healthcare providers aren’t allowed to share this information either. However, there are some instances when it can be helpful for your family members to have access to medical records and health history whether it’s for your health or for theirs. 

Your own health and your child’s health will be forever connected. Your health history is part of what becomes their health future. To ensure that they are receiving the best possible care, they need to know the full scope of their family’s health history. When your child grows up and is asked about conditions that run in their family, they should have your health records to turn to for that information. Is it hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism that runs in our family? Information like that should be included in your health records, so your child knows exactly where to turn when they’re asked. 

No one wants to think about the worst case scenario, but it is important to plan for it. Sharing your medical records with a spouse, a parent, or an adult child can ensure that you are receiving the proper care in case of an emergency. Even the most basic information such as your allergies or medications and dosages can play a huge role in your care. If family members are aware of this information beforehand, they can advocate for you at a time when you might not be able to advocate for yourself. According to HIPAA, there are some cases when doctors can consult with your family members to make a decision regarding your care. If your family already has a knowledge of your health history, they can make more informed decisions to guarantee that you’re getting the treatment that you need.

Aging brings so many gifts: life experience, deeper relationships, perspective. But it can also bring additional medications, procedures, doctors, specialists, and other health events. This can be a lot to keep track of! Compiling and organizing all of your personal health information can be simplified with tools like OneRecord, which will consolidate all of your records from all of your healthcare providers. OneRecord also makes it easy to share this information with trusted family members who play a role in your healthcare. Once all of this information is cataloged and easily accessible, you can get back to enjoying the aging process, because there are so many things to enjoy.

Learn what an EHR or Electronic Health Record really is.

What is an Electronic Health Record?

Think back to a time long ago. A time before cell phones. A time before the internet. A time when doctors kept their patients’ records in physical files on actual pieces of paper. Seems pretty old-fashioned, doesn’t it? Now almost everything is digital, including medical records. Electronic Health Records (EHR) have been a key part of the digital transformation of healthcare. Read on to find out what EHRs are, their benefits, and where you can find yours. 

An EHR contains a physical medical chart but it’s digitized. While the medical chart is its biggest component, it also has features such as electronic prescribing, orders tracking, flowsheets, interfaces to lab companies, immunization registries, and more. Needless to say, an EHR has a lot of elements, but the digital medical record is what we are focusing on here.

Doctors’ offices, hospitals, and other healthcare providers will use an EHR software to compile and store your medical information. During a doctor’s appointment, your doctor usually asks you questions, performs tests, or collects other types of data. With an EHR, instead of writing this information down, they’ll enter it into a computer or tablet. An EHR will contain a patient’s medical history so doctors can get the full picture of a patient’s health. This history can include past treatments, medications and dosages, allergies, family health history, lab results, and more. 

There are many benefits of EHRs for both patients and providers. Because the records are digital, it’s easy to share them with multiple providers. This way, if you switch doctors or go to a specialist, you can forward your medical records from one provider to another. Also, an EHR is much easier to update than a paper medical chart, so your information is always up-to-date. This ensures that your doctor and any future doctors are getting the most recent information about your health as well as a complete history of your health, so they can prescribe the best course of treatment. Because all of the records are electronic, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers don’t have to spend time digging through files to find your information, making appointments more efficient. Additionally, more than one provider can access your record at one time. In the days of paper medical charts, if your doctor had the chart in the exam room, the nurse wouldn’t be able to see it until your doctor was done. 

Where can I find my Electronic Health Records?

One way to access your medical record from your doctor’s EHR would be by contacting your doctor’s office directly. According to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), you have the right to all of your own medical records. This means that your doctor must provide the information if you request it. 

But what if you have multiple doctors? Or what if you want your child’s medical records? Fortunately, tools like OneRecord make this process considerably easier. OneRecord is connected to most doctors and health systems and can help you get your records almost instantly without ever leaving home. Once you digitally connect, OneRecord consolidates and organizes all of your information. With OneRecord, you have your entire medical history at your fingertips - on any device. 

You should know what an EHR or Electronic Health Record really is.