How do you feel, is not it will be nice that you have a health assistant to give you a reminder about perhaps a blood sugar level test or any other health related test that you have to undergo within a month or a year. Isn't it will be nice if there is an alert emergency record about your personal health and you do not have to remember all the records and history of your health before visiting your doctor for the second check up. This help can be at your fingertips in the form of a computerized personal health record, where you can store all health care information in one place. Now while visiting a doctor you do not have to arrange your files and prescriptions and test history just with a few keystrokes, you can electronically send information to the provider or can take a copy with you.

It is very essential for a doctor to know what medicines a patient is in taking and what other health related problems he has before doing any emergency treatment to him. You will be stunned to know that over 1.5 million of patients each year are hurt by taking the wrong medicine or dosage. And it is believed now that many errors can be avoided if a proper information is provided. But do not ever confuse a personal health record with an electronic health record which are created and controlled by hospitals and doctors for their own use.

Just imagine your close one has met with an accident and he has been carried to the hospital unconscious and unaccompanied. The nurses have to look for a patient's wallet hoping to gather some information which will tell them about the patient's medications, health conditions or at least a phone number. Many patients have contact lenses and the doctors and nurses in lack of any proper information are totally unaware of the fact and many patients ended with scratched corneas. Even some patients have to loose their life in lack of any medical records. I still remember one of my friend who has an accident, has been given blood thinners in the ER. The doctors are totally unaware of the fact that the patient is taking Vitamin K which has a terrible interaction with blood thinners and he has to loose his life only in lack of a personal health record.

According to the American Health Information Management Association, keeping a personal health record is important even when you're not in an emergency situation. Most of the times while going to a doctor do not remember to tell him about every nook and corner of our health history. Store all your detailed health records, including all the information that you will need, is it for visiting a doctor or for an emergency. Keep a track of your health from now in your computer and keep a hard copy of it in your car also for emergency. Several organizations are now offering various ways to organize and store a personal health record Remember a simple piece of paper might bring a lot of difference between life and death.