ANNOUNCER: To help guarantee the best possible medical care, experts say everyone should maintain their own personal medical record. The reason? It's just not true that important medical information is likely to be complete and always readily available.
RON STOCK, M.D.: It's interesting how many times people come to my office and I ask them a question about their past medical history or I ask them what medications they're taking, and they look at me sort of strangely and say, "Well, don't you know? Isn't it all right there in your record?" And the reality is that, frequently, we don't have all the information.
ANNOUNCER: So patients should gather the information themselves. It can help in emergencies, and help people become more proactive health care consumers.
CAROLYN CLANCY, M.D.: There are two reasons to keep good records about what's happened to you with your health care. One is that it could be that your information is the only source at a very, very important moment, and the second is that it actually gets people more engaged and sets them up to ask better questions.
ANNOUNCER: Doctors say people should carry with them everyday information on serious medical conditions, medicines being taken, known reactions to medicines, and allergies.
DAVID LANSKY, PH.D.: A lot of Americans believe that the emergency rooms are able to look up your medical records in a crisis when they need to. And in fact, they can't. Almost never can they do that. So if you don't have some emergency information about you in your pocket, or perhaps on a Web site and know how to reach it, they're not going to know much about you.
ANNOUNCER: Most people receive care from many doctors in different places over time� another reason a personal medical record is a good idea.
CAROLYN CLANCY, M.D.: It turns out that Americans are pretty mobile people. They move, they change jobs, they change insurers, and they end up having to change doctors.
DAVID LANKSY, M.D.: If you move and you want to share your previous information with a new doctor or a new provider, you pretty much have to bring it with you or contact all of your previous doctors and have them individually send your information along.
ANNOUNCER: The first step in compiling a complete personal medical record is knowing what kind of information to include. The basics are: insurance information, lab results, the names and phone numbers of doctors, and details of injuries, iIlnesses, surgeries, allergies, and treatments
DAVID LANSKY, PH.D.: Going back to things that you remember as major health events are certainly worth doing, or if you've been having a chronic illness managed over time, you'd like to go back to that. At minimum, just compiling where you got the care, which doctors provided the care, could be important.
ANNOUNCER: Some doctors also believe information about the medical history of other family members may be valuable in a personal medical record.
RON STOCK, M.D.: Family history information is important to have in a personal health history. There is a lot that can be known about the patient's risk for future medical problems, for discussions about prevention, whether it's diabetes or heart disease, by knowing a little bit about what the family history has been.
ANNOUNCER: Most people have some personal health information at home, although many do not have an organized system for keeping track of it.
CAROLYN CLANCY, M.D.: For someone starting to store this information, I think it's important to have it in one place, and to have it where you know it's accessible, and potentially someone else who lives with you or is close to you would also know where to find it. That is very simple. It can be on paper. It does not have to be fancy.
ANNOUNCER: A personal medical record can be as simple as a notebook or folder. Computer programs and Web sites are options, too.
CAROLYN CLANCY, M.D.: There are a growing array of programs that you can either buy or that you can log onto on a Web site password-protected to protect your privacy. For people who are comfortable storing the information that way, that can be a terrific way to do it.
ANNOUNCER: Electronic health information systems -- while far from commonplace -- can also provide data for a personal medical record.
RON STOCK, M.D.: There are a number of health care systems now that are combining the personal health record with the electronic medical record and developing what's called a patient portal.
ANNOUNCER: The future will likely bring better and more automatic systems for compiling individual medical information. But experts say even then patients will have to work hard to know and understand their personal medical records. The quality of their care depends on it.
CAROLYN CLANCY, M.D.: The ultimate purpose of your having personal medical information is so that you're aware and it's available if needed, and so that you're engaged with your health care. So the information systems of the future will solve the availability question. Being engaged is something that you have to do.