McGill launches web program to let people create their own one-stop medical file

MONTREAL - The day is not too far off when your cellphone, iPhone or Blackberry will ring to remind you to take your medication.

That's one of the eventual goals of a new web tool launched Monday by the McGill University Health Centre. The secure program, known as Unani.ca, allows anyone with Internet access to maintain a list of personal health conditions, medications, allergies and family medical history.

In short, it allows you to build your own medical file.

Dr. Jeffrey Barkun, the MUHC's director of general surgery, says that rather than tell a physician what's ailing you from memory, you can now carry around that digital file.

"It's a health organizer - a tool whose time has come," he said.

"It's a way of managing all the information you have, put it into some type of capsule, and communicate it to a doctor."

Barkun says it would be especially useful for people with diabetes, or such chronic illnesses, who want to be able to keep all their medical information together in one place.

He adds that giving people access to their electronic health record might also compel them to make lifestyle changes, even before they're forced to do so by a doctor.

"Frankly if we concentrated more on keeping people well, I would have less to do," quipped MUHC director-general Arthur Porter.

He says the system has already been tested and is freely available.

"Because the system is so easy and so intuitive, for someone who has a little computer skills, once you get in, it's very easy to use," Porter added.

The MUHC co-developed Unani.ca with Quebec-owned Medical.MD. Philippe Panzini, a co-founder of Medical.MD, said in an interview that the website is not for "cyberchondriacs."

"We believe most people will put valid information in the system," he added.

Panzini said a lot of "nice touches" will eventually be added to the program -and he used interaction with cellphones as an example.

"Like reminding you automatically - maybe tell you on your cellphone - (that) it's time to take that pill, because some people have a lot of pills to take and it's a difficult thing to do," he said.

Panzini predicted that, within the next year or so, the online health information system will be connected with doctors, hospitals and clinics.

"You will receive automatically your blood tests in the system - and your doctor's notes and your prescriptions," he said. "This is the direction we're going towards."

Health officials stress that the health information platform would be distinct from medical electronic health records being implemented by government, or from hospital medical records.

Panzini also said all the personal information is encrypted and stored in a data centre which is "as secure as humanly possible".

He noted a similar personal health information system currently exists at Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto.