You can create an updatable family health history online with "My Family Health Portrait," a tool created by none other than the Surgeon General. When you're ready to go for a doctor's visit or a hospital stay, you can print out your history as a handy reference. Here are some of the reasons this is important:
Your family health history can:
Help your health care team figure out whether you are at higher risk for some diseases.
Guide your practitioners in recommending strategies for reducing your risk of disease.
Alert you to early warning signs of disease.
The information you enter is private and is not kept on the website. The tool does not keep a government record of the information you fill in nor make your health information available to anyone else but you. It only provides the software for organizing your information. After you fill in your information, it is available only to you for downloading.
Plan on spending about 15 to 20 minutes to build your basic family health history. Be sure to share it with other family members. They may surprise you with information you didn't know.
The tool is easy to use but if you need help, you can contact the Application Support Desk at ncicb@pop.nci.nih.gov or by telephone at 888.478.4423 (toll free) or 301-451-4384. The help desk is open from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM Eastern time, but staffers can take recorded messages from 8:00 PM to 8:00 AM Eastern time.
However, if all you is help saving or copying your information to and from Microsoft HealthVault, send your questions to HealthVault Support at http://support.microsoft.com/healthvault.
The tool is "EHR-ready." Electronic hrealth records can help improve quality of care and improve cost-effectiveness of care at the same time but doctors can use information from the tool even it they don't have EHRs.
