Your Private Health details may already be on line

[Guest guest]

This was in an e-mail health news letter I get from Dr. Mecola it is

scary. Mine would read lie a dictionary for it is so thick. I might

check around and see if mine is on line too.don't know what we can do

about ti if it is on line or yours either wanted to give you all a

heads up.

Heidi

When Cohen, CNN medical correspondent, was researching an

article about online health records, she was surprised to stumble

upon her own personal health information online. Every diagnosis,

treatment, and doctor's appointment she'd had since 2003 was on the

Internet -- all she needed to get them was a phone call to her

insurance company and a few pieces of information such as Social

Security number, date of birth and address.

Online health records can let you, to some extent, double-check your

doctor. And in a world where physicians are busy and medical errors

are epidemic, that could be important.

" Having medical records online helps me take better care of you, and

helps you take better care of yourself, " says Dr. Sands,

senior medical informatics director at Cisco.

Online medical records may also help you if you need medical care

while traveling, and can't remember the names of your medications or

diagnoses. Just access a computer, and your medical information is at

your fingertips.

But even enthusiasts of online medical records admit that no system

is 100 percent secure. Experts like Dr. Schwaitzberg,

associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, advise only

allowing information online " you wouldn't mind reading on the front

page of your local newspaper. "

Sources:

CNN June 5, 2008