e-Health -- Mother Nature sends a message...

It was a dark and stormy night with a howling wind that had the rain beating mercilessly on the leaves of bent-over tree branches.

For myself, the only immediate concern was for things to settle down so I could catch one of my favorite PBS (Public Television) shows, "Doc Martin".

By 8:30 p.m., things had not improved much so I decided to dig out my battery-powered radio only to find out we were under a tornado watch and that quite a few places in the Province had just experienced a small taste of Mother Nature's power; I silently wished the residents of the affected areas well and decided that sleep would be the best option at this point.

I was totally unprepared for the images that were being shown on most Canadian TV news channels the following morning; for example, scenes from neighborhoods in the City of Vaughan (Ontario) to a lesser degree, were somewhat reminiscent of my experience with the aftermath of the passage of hurricane Hugo over the island of Montserrat (West Indies) in 1989; residents were standing in the streets looking at their homes with their roofs ripped off and the contents strewn over the surrounding area, in utter disbelief; how could this have happened in their neighborhood?

During my usual morning walk, it struck me that there was also a mention of a medical building having its roof ripped off and of course, with my interest in e-Health, my mind began to wander/wonder...

Considering the extremes of weather we experience in Canada (I read recently that as a country, we are the second-most prone to tornadoes in the world -- "http://www.680news.com/news/headlines/more.jsp?content=20090821_184551_6288"), should I not be more proactive in ensuring that:

• copies of my medical records are safely stored at an alternate site
• I begin looking into setting up a Personal Health Record (PHR) system
• I'm aware of the procedure to be followed should the unthinkable occur to my doctor's clinic

I have the first point covered in that my doctor uses an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system and I have no doubt that it's well implemented in terms of off-site backups etc., but to the second/third, these have not been high on my list of priorities!

Like many of you, I've had the same physician for decades -- sure nothing has ever happened, but that tornado watch of August 20th, 2009 should be a wake-up call for us all!

I'm gonna initiate a discussion with my doctor next visit -- perhaps you should too!

Contest

You're still encouraged to guess where the above picture was taken -- please check here for some notes and rules.

Hint: Over the pond

Month: September

With apologies to Winter lovers, here's to Fall lasting through the end of the year.

Ernest A. James

President/CEO

Regal Informatics Inc.

www.regalinformatics.com