[MrBill]

I am looking for information to help find a "good" patient medical records system (PRS). My wife was dxed with MS over 30 years ago. We recently moved and after starting over with six new doctors, it is clear that we need a system to track my wifes' medical records. It's overwhelming trying to keep track of her conditions/symptoms, doctor visits, medications, tests, treatments etc.

Can anyone give us recommendations on the best PRS and/or sources of ratings/comparisons? I have been able to find MANY different systems; however, I have NOT been able to find any comparisons or ratings. I prefer a software package that we can run on our PCs (Windows) vs. an online system for obvious security reasons.

There are MANY potential benefits of a PRS. For example, being able to track different medications taken over many years for various conditions. My wife recently started having a recurrence of facial pain (Trigeminal Neuralgia/MS related). A key issue with her Neurologist was, what medication has she taken in the past for the TN/MS and what worked/didn't work, dosages, side-effects etc........... I found my paper notes, scribbles, to be lacking when I tried to reconstruct her past medication.

I could write a book on how a PRS can help patients/families with chronic conditions. I'm currently using a software package from CapMed.Com. The system has benefits; however, it could be much better and there is minimal support.

Any help will be appreciated! SORRY for the long post.

[Jomar]

many of those will have a trial program that you can download to see if you like the way it is set up.

here's a google listing of some
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...re&btnG=Search

[Curious]

hi mrbill and to NeuroTalk.

check put this link from one of our members who posts on the pn forum. i know most of the members there use it to keep all their testing in order.

http://www.lizajane.org/

[HealthRecordUser]

Hey, Mr. Bill.

I use HealthFrame for my family. It runs on a PC and is quite complete. They have good support (http://Community.RecordsForLiving.com) and you can try their software for free.

HRU

[MrBill]

Thanks for your responses. I have been using PHR Ver 4.5.2 (CD version) from CapMed/BioImages. Based on HealthRecordUser's recommendation, I've also downloaded the trial of Record's for Living. It's too soon to give any kind of a detail comparison; however, I can tell already that each system has capabilities missing in the other system.

This is an area that desperately needs a common standard. It appears that most medical records systems have so far focused on the more complex systems for doctor's offices. The consumer versions seem to be stripped down versions. Some systems including PHR/CapMed are being offered to patients of doctor's offices, hospital systems etc. It seems that many of these systems/applications have been customized for each major group. The PHR/CapMed version that I received is based on one of the systems offered to patients of Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, PA that licensed PHR to provide to their hospital patients.

Consumer versions of the software applications seem to be fairly limited in features. A report writer is desperately need for the PHR/CapMed system. They claim such will be available 3Q 2007.

HealthRecordUser - do you understand the "plug-in" available for Record's for Living? Can users write there own reports/plug-in?

Thanks again, MrBill