My Health Records
Medication Errors Common – When will patients be trusted with the keys? There are reasons that the health care system needs health advocates and navigators.…
Category: Data Access
How I Got Involved: to ease patient frustration
By Founder and Director Doug Balson The idea to start a co-op formed when I worked for the B.C. Ministry of Health. Then, it solidified…
A long-time kidney patient told the frustrating story of not being believed and ending up at the wrong hospital each time he had an emergency event. Each time, he would tell the emergency services he needed to go to Jubilee where the kidney specialists are. And each time, the ambulance would take him to Victoria General Hospital because protocol called for it. He would go through an hour of intake at VGH only to be told he should be at Jubilee.
Situations like this made me sure there is a better way. Best-practice protocols for some can be deadly for others. An emergency medical summary card, for example, could help communicate which best-practice protocols won't work for the patient.
I began to imagine a co-op that would provide people with access to their health records. At the same time, it would support their ability to understand and communicate that information to health care professionals. Hopefully, in the process, the co-op would be able to alleviate some of the frustration.
My Health Information Co-op is an extension of what many patients are already doing – helping each other. People set up patient support groups out of necessity to help them navigate a health care system structured around the needs of health care professionals and bureaucrats. Because we're a member-owned co-op, we put patients' needs first.