Google and Medical Records

I don't know. I just don't know.

Don't know what?

I don't know if I can give medical information to Google. Medical Identity theft is worse than Financial Identity theft.

Here is the Google Health Terms of Service statement and here is the Google Health Sharing Authorization statement.

Overall you don't have to put in info you don't want to. All fields are optional. Google Health has tabs for Age, Weight, Height, Conditions, Medications, Allergies, Procedures, Test results, Immunizations. Google Health allows link to Personal Health Services - Longs Drugs, Walgreen's Pharmacy, Medco, CVS Caremark, RxAmerica, Quest Diagnostics and a few others.

If you are bold enough to fill out all the fields, Google Health will update drug interactions and any notices they feel you need to be aware of.

Google Health also allows to input your own Medical Contacts. Name, address, phone, e-mail, and any notes.

Google Health also allows to search for Doctors by using combinations of location and specialty or name. Examples:

• Dr. Johnson, Los Angeles, CA
• Dr. Miller, Boston, Massachusetts
• Cardiology, Chicago
• Orthopedic Surgery, New York, NY
• Family practice, 94131

Camp Honor finalized

Well it looks like it might finally be decided...
The Camper Committee made a decision to allow the three campers to go to camp that went last year but are not yet 8. They will be able to go if the camp does not fill up in their age group.
Since the camp changed the age from 7 to 8 and "most" of the 7 year olds are now 8 and the 17 year olds are now 18, shouldn't we know there will be room. No new kids were added to camp and the only ones who left are the older kids. There should be room. The cutoff date was today at 5 PM, so we should know by tomorrow if the three kids can go.
I'm looking at the bright side - the Camper Committee changed their ruling.

Oh, I got interviewed by the Executive Director and Camp Director to be a staff member. I was asked what volunteer experience I have? My reply was as follows "How far back did you want me to go? I can go all the way back to when I was 9." The next question was to explain my camping experience. "I've been camping since I was 11 with the Boy Scouts. Where did you want me to start?", I asked. I think I passed the interview.

Camp Honor revisited

Today is the day.....

On May 10th we appealed to the Board of Directors and gave our case. The camper sub-committee also wrote a 3 page letter detailing their decision. Who won?

We did. At least in theory. The Board of Directors was not going to tell the camper sub-committee to change the policies but the Board of Directors unanimously recommended the committee "grandfather" in those children who attended camp last year but will not be 8 this year by the cut-off date. The caveat is conditional on availible space for all three campers affected by the new age policy. So if the camp fills up they still won't be able to go to camp.

I'm one of those people that need to understand why rules are made, when they were made, and what had to have happened for rules to be made. YES, I touched the hot stove.

The Board also recomended 2 other changes:

1. A standard date be used to determine eligibility instead of the first day of camp they currently use.
2. The Camp Committee put its policies in writing re: its responsibilities and authority and that of its sub-committees.

..... So why is today the day? The Board put it back on the Camper Committee to decide to grandfather in these three kids. The Camper Committee is meeting today to discuss if they want to follow the recomemdations of the Arizona Hemophilia Association's Board of Directors or to ignore the Board's recomendations and continue with their current policies.

Now that all the lights are on, I'm ready to accept what happens next. I might not like the decision, but at least it is out in the open.

Universal Health Care Saves $$ By…

These are condensed comments from here.

There are basically four ways a single-payer system could save money. Each is related to simplification. Complexity is very expensive – in time, people, resources, and opportunity costs.

Downsizing Bureaucracy
Information Sharing
Tort Reform
Rationing (or whatever politically acceptable term you want)

Bottom line:
Universal health care funded through some form of a single payer-type system could save huge sums of money if and only if:
• The new system is uncharacteristically simple, not overlaid with complexities, extraneous issues and separate agendas;
• We are willing to give pink slips to tens of thousands of US workers;
• We implement an effective national health information sharing system;
• We scrap the present medical negligence tort system and create something that actually works;
• We accept some form of care rationing; and most important,
• We are prepared for the backlash from numerous special interests.

Are you ready to accept all the necessary consequences in order to have true universal health care?

Other sites I found insightfull are listed below:
"Universal Health Care" Is None Of The Above from "Huffington Post"
No Patient Left behind from "Huffington Post"
Canada's Health System Draws Mixed Reviews From Psychiatrists from "pschiatryonline.org"