So many of us were shocked to learn the details of the passing of actress Natasha Richardson from a head injury. And as soon as Connie and Donald McCracken saw the announcement on CNN, they thought of their 7 year old daughter Morgan. She has recently sustained a hit to her left temple is a baseball game. She was showing no symptoms, went to school, as did well as usual.

That evening, as they kissed Morgan “good night,” she complained of a headache. Because of Natasha, her parents called their pediatrician, and by the time they were off of the phone call, Morgan was sobbing from the pain.

The McCrackens took Morgan to the emergency room of their local hospital, when after tests, she was flown by helicopter to Children’s Hospital in Cleveland. She has sustained an epidural hematoma, the very same injury Natasha had.

After surgery and five days in the hospital, Morgan was home and doing fine.

Do all head injuries need attention, even ones that seem minor?

Greg Ayotte, a spokesperson for the Brain Injury Association of America and cognitive rehabilitation therapist, says to be concerned if “they’re confused, they’re agitated, or they might be dizzy or unresponsive”.

He further recommends after a head injury:

1. Be vigilant
2. Look for dizziness, vomiting headache and confusion
3. Look for changes in symptoms and behavior
4. Be especially wary if someone a) has been drinking alcohol, b) is one blood thinners, c) is elderly or d) is a young athlete
5. Go to a certified trauma center if you can.

Remember, it’s better to err on the side of conservatism.

Source: CNN

Last night on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, there was a segment called “Healthcare’s High Tech Transition.”  Williams mentioned President Obama’s Healthcare Reform Plan, which calls for the transition from paper to digital medical records within five years.

It is obviously a very popular topic with us.  I have brought up before, and I’m sure it will come up again.  Williams’ segment was timely because he said a new study was released last night that says, “less than 2% of the nation’s hospitals have fully electronic records.”  Will the other 98% please call me?  I will fly to you if that is easier.

NBC News’ Chief Science and Health Correspondent, Robert Bazell, narrated the piece. He mentioned the the “old way” of medical records was “mountains of folders often written in illegible scrawl and difficult to find.” The “new way” is obviously electronic medical records.If only he added, “The new way is MedsFile.com!”

Bazell interviewed a doctor at a hospital with electronic medical records. The doctor replied that, “they show almost everything I want to know about the patient.” Bazell added, “President Obama wants the whole country’s medical system to be electronic in five years,” which we know, and then showed a clip of President Obama saying that electronic medical records will “cut waste, eliminate red tape, and reduce the need to repeat expensive medical tests.”

In the segment, Dr. Steven Corwin, Chief Operating Officer of New York Presbyterian Hospital said that after his hospital implemented electronic medical records that “medication errors went down about 80%.” Wow!

According to Bazell, the two biggest obstacles with electronic medical records are, 1.) Patient privacy, and 2.) The difficulty of two separate computers talking to each other.

First, MedsFile.com takes patient privacy very seriously. Our unique two-level security approach keeps patient’s information private and secure. We are even currently working on a specific program that will take our security to a new level!

Second, as the “.com” in our company name indicates, MedsFile.com is completely web-based. ANY computer or cell phone with Internet-access can visit MedsFile.com and access a patient’s personal health record when the patient has given permission to do so.

Bazell ended the clip that electronic medical records are “the future of medicine.” With MedsFile.com, the future is now.

View the 2:14 segment here:

Ok, so how can I start a blog and not even give you an update on the site and what we’ve been working on?

We’ve been even busier than usual at MedsFile.com making the site better than ever. This isn’t just any old update. Look out in the next few days for an entire redesign of the site.

We’ve been working for a while to “re-skin” it and totally redesign the way we distribute information about what we do and how we do it. We’re really excited to launch it, and I can’t wait to hear your feedback.

One of the comments I hear the most about the site is how user-friendly and easy-to-use it is. Ease of use is one of our top goals, and everything’s about to get easier!

With regards to what I’ve been working on for the blog… I’ve been saving some articles I’ve found online over the past few months that I thought you might find interesting. I’ll post them, and my comments, in the coming weeks.

If you are unfamiliar with MedsFile.com, customers come to our site to build a complete Personal Health Record. A customer can store information about medications, supplements, allergies, insurance, as well as lists of emergency contacts, immunizations, family and medical history, surgeries and procedures, and so much more. The customer decides what information to enter in, and what information (if any) is to be shared between designated family members, caregivers, and physicians.

Doctors and hospitals are pleading with patients to maintain their own up-to-date medical information, but there is no worldwide central medical database shared by all doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and caregivers. The results of a Physician having limited knowledge of every medication and supplement a patient takes could be the recommendation of drugs which lead to allergic reactions or drug interactions.

Our goal is to assist both patients and doctors. Patients (and their caregivers) can manage their own medical information in order to care for themselves, or even simply to save time in the doctor’s office, or in a hospital. Doctors experience the benefits of limitation of medication errors/interactions, the knowledge that comes from shared medical information with other doctors, and the ability to pull up medical histories and treat patients through MedsFile.com while on a computer or a mobile phone.

Visit MedsFile.com to learn more… Thank you!

I started this blog as an additional avenue to communicate with all the customers, business associates, and friends of me and my business, MedsFile.com.

The caption of the blog is, Insights from the Founder and CIO of MedsFile.com. Isn’t that snazzy?! But really, the primary focus of this blog will be on:

• The latest news and updates on MedsFile.com
• Personal Health Records in general
• The latest news from the medical community (including articles and snippets) that might affect MedsFile.com and its customers
• The ups and downs of entrepreneurship
• …and life!

So sit back, enjoy the ride, and I hope to bring you a modicum of news and entertainment as often as I can. I might even have some special guest authors from time to time!

Hello and welcome! Getting this Blog off and running has been a side project of mine for a few months now. It’s so nice to finally get it up and running. This is sort of a “soft opening” as I make tweaks and adjustments and get everything where I like it. The official “grand opening” will come soon. At least this way all my screw-ups won’t be TOO public!

I started this blog as an additional avenue to communicate with all the customers, business associates, and friends of me and my business, MedsFile.com. I might even have some special guest authors from time to time!

The caption of the blog is, “Insights from the Founder and CIO of MedsFile.com.” Isn’t that snazzy?! But really, the primary focus of this blog will be on the latest news and updates on MedsFile.com, Personal Health Records in general, the latest news from the medical community (including articles and snippets) that might affect MedsFile.com and its customers, the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, and life! So sit back, enjoy the ride, and I hope to bring you a modicum of news and entertainment as often as I can.

Other than that, thanks for visiting, and I look forward to reading all your comments and e-mails soon!