While we’re waiting for government initiatives or standards on electronic patient data, the folks at MedicTag have developed an accessible, near-universal USB keychain app:
MedicTag™ is simple to use. Plug it into the USB port on your computer to start the program, there is nothing to install, it’s all on the MedicTag™. Fill in the blanks with as much, or as little information as you need, click on “save” and you are done.
It requires very little computer skill to use, on most systems it is “plug and play” and is a simple fill in the blanks format. It is compatible with 99.9% of the home and office computer systems in use today and requires only Windows and MS Word to fill out the information form. And no special software is needed to read it, all Windows operating systems include WordPad which can read the information form.
DNR and healthcare proxy info can be included, too, though it wouldn’t hold up in court. And, from the intern’s perspective, until hospital charts are also online, this system will still require painstaking transcription of meds and past history, by hand. But at least those lists would be complete, and legible. And the capacity on the USB keychain would no doubt exceed that of proposed health “smart cards”, offering the promise of old EKG’s and radiology files that could be kept with the patient.
More from MedicTag…