E-health: A matter of life and death: "I was standing in the security line at Dallas International airport some months ago when I was approached by a worried-looking gentleman who was carrying a large envelope with papers. He asked if I was travelling to Chennai (I was stopping over at London).
It seems that a family member on holiday in India was undergoing emergency medical surgery and the medical records were needed faster than a courier could get them there. I was struck by the irony of the situation.
Consider this: you can travel anywhere on the planet or pay for your hotel or other purchases by the swipe of a credit card, where the payee authenticates your credit limit.
In essence, your financial information can and is transmitted to wherever it is required in the bat of an eyelid. And yet, the thing that matters most to us, our health and our health records, is pretty much stuck in the Stone Age.
Your medical information, history of medical treatment, surgeries, allergies and so on are recorded on paper and all this stays where it is recorded. If this information is not made available to doctors when and where it is needed, it is pretty useless and could mean the difference between life and death."
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