Last summer, I heard about an author from Indiana University Maurer School of Law looking for stories about women reinventing their careers.  As soon as I heard this I immediately contacted the author, Caroline-Dowd Higgins, and shared the story of Pam’s transition from a marketing software executive, to caregiver, to Founder and CEO of RememberItNow! You can also watch Pam’s story here.

After learning about how Pam created RememberItNow! to help  her father and millions of others take control of their health , Professor Higgins decided to profile Pam in her new book, “This Is Not the Career I Ordered: 52 Ways to Reignite, Reinvent and Recharge Your Work and Your Life.”

As of today, Pam’s story, “A Feisty Little Start-Up Company in the E-Health Arena” is officially published and can also be viewed on Professor Higgins’ website.

In Pam’s profile, Professor Higgins Professor Higgins acknowledges every hard-working step of Pam’s entrepreneurial journey. She highlights Pam’s advanced marketing techniques to ignite the visibility of RememberItNow!, Pam’s strict focus on the patient-centric design during product development, her resourcefulness to keep company overhead costs low, and much more.

You can also learn about the steps it took to create the right software development team, the sacrifices made to bootstrap the company, and the process of defining RememberItNow! core values.  Do you have an entrepreneurial journey to share? Let us know! Comments are always welcome.

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Having a personal health record (PHR) allows you to take control of your health and with so many options available today, we have more power than ever at our fingertips. However, all these choices can be overwhelming. It’s important to assess your needs in order to determine the qualifications your PHR must meet.

Do you want to document your entire lifetime in your personal health record? Or, do you want to record the past few years due to questionable incidents in your health? Do you want your PHR to be accessible to your health care provider?

These are only some of the key questions to consider when choosing your personal health record.  Below are some questions to ask before selecting a personal health record:

1. What Kind of Format Do I Want?
Determining whether you want a Web-based, Software-based, Mobile-based, or Paper-based PHR is the first step. If it’s Web-based, you can access it anywhere online. This may be convenient for you if you want access to your health information from your computer at work. If you feel more comfortable knowing your personal health information is saved on your computer, a software-based PHR may be a better fit.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is also a great option if you want the best of both worlds. Access it from anywhere online, and it’s safe and secure. Paper-based PHR’s are free and you never have to turn on your computer to access it. Just make sure you store your records in a secure place. Mobile-based PHRs that work on your smart phone are handy for users on-the-go. You’ll have your health information with you wherever you go.

2. How Much Do I Want to Spend?
A lot of PHRs are free and others are can range from $4.95/month to $9.95/month, depending upon the features, such as medication reminders. If you have a lot of content you would like to store, many online PHRs require a higher fee for additional online storage. If you haven’t had a lot of health problems and are creating a PHR to start taking control of your health, a basic and free PHR may be the best fit for you.

3. What Kind of Privacy and Security Should I Consider?
This could be one of the most important features of your PHR. Protecting your confidential information should be a priority. If your personal health record is online, look for features like password protection, tier 1 data hosting, inactivity time-out, and HTTPS transmissions. These aspects indicate security is taken seriously.

4. Who Else Will See My PHR? Do I Want to Share it With Others?
Do you want to be the only one with access to your personal health record? Or do you want to share your health information with friends, family members, or health professional? How much access do you want to give them? Finding a personal health record with adjustable privilege levels may be ideal because it gives you the flexibility to control your options.

5. Are There Any Special Features I Need?
Defining the extra features of a personal health record seems unnecessary because most PHR’s contain the same information right? Wrong. PRH’s vary greatly. Some are the bare bones, only storing a minimum amount of your health data.  Have you considered a PHR that offers medication reminders, prescription re-fill notifications, report sharing and more? Do you have trouble keeping all your paperwork organized? A PHR that allows you to store, organize, and share your documents online might be an optimal feature to consider.  You may also want to consider if your PHR integrates with your doctor’s records, and if the information is portable to another system.

6. What Kind of Content Am I Going to Record?
Besides a list of your current medications and medication history, what other personal information do you want in your record? Do you want to a PHR listing all of your contacts, or a journal to track your wellness? Do you want to upload and store your medication records? Are you interested in tracking your biometrics? If having quick access to a medical dictionary or medication interaction checker is important to you, look for those features. Or, if you want to keep things simple with your basic demographic information and your medical history, there are a lot of PHRs that offer that too.

We wish you luck on your quest for the perfect PHR and will be more than happy if you choose ours. For detailed information on what the RememberItNow! PHR has to offer, take a tour.

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ORINDA, Calif. - August 11, 2010 - RememberItNow! recently demonstrated their patient-centric medical adherence software to the Tennessee U.S. Office of eHealth Initiatives as part of an extensive enterprise medication management request for information (RFI)

The RFI is being led by the state of Tennessee Office of eHealth Initiatives (OEHI), with participation by Alabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Information obtained through this RFI will be shared among participating states to encourage complimentary development of services across multiple states.

Improving medication management is a complex challenge, with high costs to patients, families, employers, insurers, and government agencies. The Journal of American Pharmacy Association has estimated the cost of noncompliance at $177 billion. Other reports put the cost of non-compliance closer to $300 billion.

The purpose of the RFI is to investigate the market for enterprise medication management and technologies. Will Rice, executive director of the Office of e-Health Initiatives, State of Tennessee, said, “Through our RFI, our states are exploring the current state of the marketplace regarding medication management services. As a means of enhancing patient safety by providing a more secure, accurate and informed prescribing process, we continue to evaluate the availability of medication history data sources and medication management technologies. We are very appreciative for the helpful contributions of vendors like RememberItNow! to our market research.”

One of the areas ripe for improvement is the patient’s medication compliance. Often-quoted former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop succinctly summarizes the challenge, “Drugs don’t work in patients who don’t take them.” Studies show that nearly 50% of the time patients don’t take their medications as they have been prescribed.

To improve medication compliance, RememberItNow! sends text messages, push, or email reminders for medications and events to the user’s cell phone. Medication reminders can be customized with special instructions: “10:30 am, Lipitor, 1 pill, night stand, with food, as needed.”

“We are privileged to be part of this opportunity to demonstrate how our patient-centric eHealth software empowers people to take control of their health by helping them take the right medication, at the right time, in the right dose,” said Pamela Swingley, chief executive officer and founder of RememberItNow!

In addition to medication reminders, RememberItNow! offers a personal health record and the ability to create an interactive personal health team. Available online and on smart phones, the service makes eHealth easy.

Swingley noted the time is ideal to address the challenge of medication management. “It’s encouraging to see the States seek innovative solutions to the challenge of medication management throughout the entire health care system. Thanks to advances in mobile technology, the widespread use of cell phones, and acceptance of software-as-a-service, we can now address part of the complex challenge of medication management by reminding people to take their medications and easily manage their medical history. The technology is available today to empower people to take control of their health.”

ABOUT THE OFFICE OF e-HEALTH INITIATIVES
The Office of e-Health Initiatives is the single coordinating authority for health information exchange in Tennessee and works to upgrade the state’s health information technology to provide complete health information and improve the quality of patient care at the point of care. For more information, visit http://news.tnanytime.org/ehealth/

About RememberItNow! LLC
RememberItNow! makes eHealth easy. Designed from the patient’s point-of-view, it is simple to schedule cell phone medication reminders, maintain a personal health record, and create a private health team. RememberItNow’s patient-centric SaaS platform is also available to healthcare providers, employers, and long-term care facilities. Headquartered in Orinda, CA, RememberItNow! is privately held. Learn more at www.rememberitnow.com. To view the RememberItNow! eHealth Medication Management Presentation, click here.

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Dad’s fear of losing his license is shared by many, many seniors. A car not only represents independence; it is often a neccesity. They depend on driving to get to doctor’s appointments, buy food, and visit with family and friends.

But what happens when they can no longer drive? Like me, many children with elderly parents work full time and can’t afford to take a day off to visit the doctor, get to the lab, and pick up new medications. Public transportation is often inconvenient. Taxi cabs expensive. Friends and spouses may have significant driving restrictions.

It’s a big problem, one that is growing larger every day. We like to imagine a daywhen transportation could be scheduled along with a medical appointment through an eHealth platform. Pick-up, delivery, and time details would already be available. And confirmation emails, and reminders could easily be sent. Most of the pieces are available today, they just need to be connected together with local driving services.

Our friend from the UK, Peter Kruger, covers the challenge of transport for seniors in detail in his latest report, “When You Get Old and Lose Your Car“.  More excellent information about aging is avaliable on Peter’s website, www.alphadaughters.com.

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To solve this problem the U.S. Office of eHealth Initiatives is actively seeking innovative medication management solutions to help. In response to their request for information (RFI), RememberItNow! was asked to present our software as a possible solution to help improve medical adherence.

Information acquired during the eHealth Initiative RFI will help determine the best way to improve medication compliance with innovative. We are excited to be part of this opportunity and to contribute to the progress of our nation’s health.

Take a look at our presentation below and let us know what you think!

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Vincent Van Gogh once said, “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”

What does this have to do with our recent report on long-distance care and employee health care costs? Well, when Self Funded Magazine decided to publish our report, “Care Giving from the Office“, we thought it was a great thing!

Writing this report was hard work because we did a lot of digging around for statistics, studies, analyses, and more.  We felt like eager pilgrims gathering tiny morsels of food to make a decent dinner. The result of all this reviewing and writing was a Thanksgiving feast.

We were very flattered the reputable Self-Funding Magazine published it in their July issue. Self Funding Magazine was created by healthcare executives who have run and administered self funded plans for employers for years. They always provide cutting edge industry news and expertise. We were very flattered when they chose to publish our report. You can read it here or you can click on it on the Self Funded Magazine logo above.

In the report you will find all the discoveries we made when connecting the dots between long-distance care and employee health care costs. We knew care giving could take a toll on someone working full-time, but we wanted to thoroughly learn who else it effects and how.

“Care Giving from the Office” explores the constant juggling act 60% of caregivers face trying to balance work and care.  In the report you will also learn it’s stressful and costly to employers because of the productivity loss.

Read more surprising facts and learn about what solutions are out there to help. Feel free to share your insight too! We would love to hear your story or advice.

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If your childhood memories do not include radios that broadcast from a box or TV’s that only produced pictures in black, white or some varied shade of gray, your consciousness likely bloomed in an era after Walter Cronkite was an evening ritual.  The members of that pivotal generation not only lived a different lifestyle but experienced it with eyes and ears tuned to an entirely different way of thinking.

So, here we all are-multi-generations crowded together in a 21st century pressure-cooker–with as many diverse value systems and cultural norms as there are choices for toppings on a pizza. Today’s reigning generation is one most at home with change; our residences, careers and relationships are frequently re-thought and re-invented without undue angst.  Some might even view “satisfaction” as a dysfunctional trait.  But, our parents-those that Walter brought the news to each night-kept the same home, job and significant others for decades;  examining that life or one’s comfort level in it was not on the acceptable list of options.

As the sons and daughters of “now” take on the care of elderly parents, communication can become a frustrating and less-than-productive engagement. It’s classic “apples” and “oranges”; the offer of a shiny, tasty ‘apple’ of change is politely, but determinedly declined, even though the ‘orange’ (choices about where to live or how independently, for example) is well past a point of viability.

To understand the psyche of a Pre-Baby boomer, you must understand their values. It’s essential to fully absorb these values if you want to be of assistance to them.

Loyalty
Stability is established through loyalty, and loyalty avoids asking too many questions.  When your 75-year-old mother wants to keep seeing the physician who has treated her for 40 years, (even though that physician is now approaching 90) it is because she is loyal. Her health is actually secondary to her integrity in that. Acknowledge that character trait and proceed with any necessary change in a way that will not damage her sense of self or her physician’s feelings.

Home Is Where The Heart Is
“A man’s home is his castle” is a mantra well known by a post World War II family. To these men and women their home is a living, evolving part of the core family; it is identified as the most tangible talisman of success, even virility. Leaving it because it’s too big or physically demanding to maintain would be similar to leaving your job or abandoning your marriage.

Dignity
Pre-Baby boomers don’t quit things; quitting is an unacceptable response that signals the end of the Stable–the Controlled–and very tied to Dignity. When we try to convince 80-year-old Dad that having less to do is a desirable state, we might as well be singing the praises of Death. Death to Dignity is more feared than the Grim Reaper himself. Remember, change must navigate around the pillars of character in this generation; so much else in their world has become unrecognizable.

Selflessness
Baby boomers are probably the first generation to embrace a sense of Self. Our latent guilt demanded we temper that with at least a small dollop of altruism, but never forget that the Generation of Change was the original Generation of Moi.  Our parents, on the other hand, were raised to value Selflessness; nothing has more sting to it than needing someone to do something for you.

How do we offer them back their legacy of giving without corrupting the spirit that taught it to us?  Frame it in selflessness itself. It may help our aging population to know that receiving is how to assist a younger generation to practice giving. They serve by being served!

Time will tell if crossing the Generation Gap ever becomes a journey that doesn’t require an itinerary first.  Socrates thousands of years ago had misgivings about the ‘youth of today’, so Change is likely the real Stability.  If Loyalty, Dignity and Selflessness are the mark of a generation inspired by Walter Cronkite, then maybe Walter really had something there. I think we Baby boomers could learn a few things still.

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We recently heard from one of our customers about how much she loves RememberItNow! medication reminders. Her enthusiasm was so contagious, we had to share.

Sharon  lives near Sacramento, California with her five children and loving husband, Jim. Sharon and Jim keep a pretty tight schedule balancing full-time jobs and family duties.

Their five children all have different school schedules and activities making it difficult to stay organized. On top of all the rushing around, their youngest daughter Hannah requires a lot of attention due to her illness and recent frequent seizures.

Hannah requires three to five medications per day to help control her seizures. Managing all of Hannah’s medications can be a challenge, but it’s especially hard in the middle of the day. Sharon sighs, “It was so easy to miss a dose in the afternoon because I was running errands, working, picking up the kids from practice, or taking them to and from school. The RememberItNow! text-message medication reminders have been a lifesaver!”

Sharon loves our SMS reminders because they are reliable and she doesn’t have to worry about hauling around a pill box or something else for her daughter’s mid-day dosage. A simple text-message to her cell phone is seamless and straightforward.

Sharon also appreciates the patient-centric design behind RememberItNow! She remarks, “It’s an absolutely beautiful software application. Jim is a computer programmer and he can’t get over how much he loves it, and how easy and useful it’s been.”

Sharon and her medical team are working hard to find that solution to Hannah’s seizures. In the meantime, RememberItNow! helps to keep Hannah on her med schedule and avoid some pretty horrible consequences of a missed medication. “We haven’t missed as many medications and have followed through with every prescription. It’s taken a lot of the worry out of managing Hannah’s meds.”

We’re grateful to play a part in keeping Hannah health and happy. Stories like Sharon are what makes our jobs worthwhile. If you have a story to share, let us know here.

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Orinda, CA - June 30, 2010- RememberItNow! LLC announced today new additions to their eHealth service, making long-distance care easier.

According to a 2009 study by AARP, over seven in ten caregivers were employed at some time when caregiving. Among them, two-thirds have gone in late, left early, or taken time off to deal with caregiving issues. That means 66% of caregivers are struggling to find a balance between work and care.

“When I started RememberItNow! I was working full-time and trying to manage my father’s health care. I didn’t know who his doctors were, or how to keep track of all his medical information. Keeping the family updated on his health was a challenge. In addition, Dad kept forgetting to take his pills, and I wanted an easy way to remind him, without being a nag,” reflects Pam Swingley, CEO and founder of RememberItNow!”

A caregiver spends 20 hours per week on care-related tasks, similar to a part-time job. This unproductive time impacts their efficiency at work, and adds to the stress of caring for a loved one. RememberItNow! makes it easier to manage care from the office and provide caregivers with peace of mind by:

* Improving medication compliance.
Text or email reminders to a patient’s cell phone ensure the right medication is taken at the right time, in the right dose. This improves patient health and reduces health care costs.

* Creating a private interactive heath team.
Family, caregivers, and health care providers can stay connected through a patient’s account (with customized privilege levels), share information and coordinate care.

* Simplifying health care management.
New and easy-to-use eHealth tools include a health journal, website bookmarks, medical history, contact management, and health charts and reports, which can be printed, emailed, and shared. Home care workers can make updates throughout the day, without the need for intrusive status phone calls.

*Always staying connected.
RememberItNow! is available on any mobile smart phone, making it easy to check on a loved one during a lunch break or on-the-go. Stay connected on Facebook, too, with RememberItNow! shared wellness journal updates.

To learn more about RememberItNow’s long-distance care features visit: http://www.rememberitnow.com

ABOUT RememberItNow! LLC

RememberItNow! makes eHealth easy. Designed from the patient’s point-of-view, it is simple to schedule medication reminders, maintain a personal health record, and create an interactive private health team. Getting started is fast and free.

RememberItNow’s patient-centric SaaS platform is also available to healthcare providers, employers, and long-term care facilities. Headquartered in Orinda, CA, RememberItNow! is privately held.

Media Contact:

Alex Bettencourt

Phone: 925-254-8936

Email: abettencourt@rememberitnow.com

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Let’s examine some of these rumors more thoroughly:

1. “Your doctor is not allowed to share your health care information with family members.”

This is false and your physician actually is allowed to share relevant health information with your family members. Under The HIPPA Privacy Rule your health care provider is permitted to to share information directly pertinent to the involvement of a spouse, family member, or another contact you have identified with approval (usually this is another caregiver or someone else helping pay for your healthcare).

2. “Your name and location are open to the public when you are in the hospital.”

This one is true folks. Unless you make a specific request to remove your name on the hospital’s directory list, anyone can confirm you are a hospital patient if they ask.

3. “Anyone can fax and email your health information.”

This is incorrect. Only your healthcare providers are allowed to send and receive your health information, and they are only permitted to so under strict security policies.  Email encryption and decryption is also protected to block others from accessing and adjusting your data.

4. “Private messages about your health can be left on your answering machine or with anyone in your home.”

This is also false. Your health care information is always protected unless you give your provider consent to leave messages on your answering machine or with someone in your home. You can also request how much information is left too, although most providers are generally discreet anyway.

5. “Your healthcare provider can share your personal health information to another healthcare provider without your permission.”

This one is also true. If you health care provider has reason to believe you will be receiving care somewhere else, they can disclose your health information without your approval.

We know how important your personal health record is to you, so we suggest bookmarking this blog. You never know when you need a refresher on your personal health information rights. Also, if you are interested in starting a personal health record with us we promise to always keep all of your information, private, safe, and secure.

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