markjeee.com

The idea of the universal health record (UHR) is that a patient would have just one file:

1) consolidated
2) comprehensive
3) universally accessible from anywhere in the world
4) under the control of the patient
5) and most important of all, is in electronic form so that all the computer-based analytical tools available can be applied to finding things in the patient's record that could be overlooked by a busy doctor.

The patient might relate to the UHR as a sort of personal health journal in which he or she can keep notes of a subjective nature or perhaps the results of home tests like blood pressure. The pharmacist might see it as, primarily, a file for keeping drug use organized. The lab might see it as a modern way to deliver laboratory results to the doctor, and so on. Several otherwise blind men would now have access to the whole elephant.

The universal health record (UHR), itself, may not be an interesting thing. It is, after all, just a glorified file folder (in cyberspace).  I see this as being similar to other public utilities. For instance, the cables installed all over the country, once extensive and reliable enough made it possible to call anybody anywhere on the telephone. And the internet itself was only 25 years ago, just an odd system the military had set up for a robust communication in the event of attack. Then, with the invention of html and browsers, we suddenly had the World Wide Web, the utility of which continues to be breathtaking.

Once this UHR, a glorified file folder in cyberspace, is in place, a lot of other really interesting things can happen.