Digital Health Records Move Closer To Reality 2Digital Health Records Move Closer To Reality 2

A new service from REDmedic Inc. aims to help avoid problems that may occur when health-care providers don't have access to patient information. The government is working to create a national infrastructure to allow the electronic sharing of patient data. In the meantime, for $3 a month, consumers can store basic medical and emergency-contact information online so that information can be accessed during emergencies as well as in situations such as changing doctors.

REDmedic hopes to expand its services so that hospitals can contribute data, such as information about member patients' surgeries. The company plans to sell the service through employee-benefits administrators, health plans, health-care providers, and others. Members carry a card or put a sticker on their license or health-insurance card directing providers to the REDmedic site; emergency rooms that don't have Web access can obtain patients' REDmedic information from a call center or fax.

Dr. David Brailer, who's leading the national electronic health records effort, won't comment on any commercial solution, but says it's a goal of his office for Americans to have access to their own medical data.