The Canadian Press: McGill launches web program to let people create their own one-stop medical file

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.

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