MotherKnows.com Is Telling Your Child’s Health Story

With all the discussion in the media today of technology in health care, it’s an alphabet soup of things I understand, but how about you? EMR, PMR… data management, tracking all kinds of health data, and you guessed it: there’s an app for that! As a working mother with a Smartphone, I can tell you I am a veritable wizard when it comes to keeping things straight. As I juggle sport’s forms that ask for the last tetanus shot and acne cream refills and kid’s check-ups this summer, even I could use a little help.

I have four children, and I can keep most of it straight on any given day, but I have confessed  in an earlier blog  to asking one of the children in front of a new pediatrician, “Were you the one with pneumonia, or was that your brother?” There’s no question in our household about which parent is in charge of health care ‘stuff,’ but even for a medical insider, it’spretty hard for me sometimes.

It’s easier in the adult domain. My doctor provides a clever little flash drive with all my medical records on it. It sync’s with the office’s EMR so that all I do is plug it in, access the website, and all the information you could ever want to know about my health and well being is at your fingertips. Not everybody is looking for this level of care, but as a physician, it matters to me to have state-of-the-art health care. I looked into having the device for my children, butthere was no such thing. Growth charts, vaccine dates…there was nothing that came close to providing for the unique needs of children’s doctor visits. What’s a doctor-mom to do? Dream, I suppose…or create my own!

And while I was creating my dream, in walked the guys from Silicon Valley who were friends with other guys who have all the money to invest in important companies, and poof! My wish was granted.  MotherKnows.com , they call themselves, and now they are data storing my kids’ Personal Health Records for me. Who’d have EVER thought that a company would be so well place to shape the future of health care consuming because they are wise enough to know that it all starts with a mother.

Watch

What is MotherKnows?  from  MotherKnows  on  Vimeo.

MotherKnows is a new start-up, and the company is able to put your child’s health story (every vaccination date, each height and weight measurement, every episode of strep throat) right at your fingertips. Imagine never having to call the doctor’s office for a form. Imagine seeing the subtle trend toward a stockier little boy that helped you reign in the unlimited cups of juice. Imagine having a place to record all your new baby’s developmental milestones. Stay tuned. The company is not even a year old yet, but they promise to change the way parents think about who’s responsible for medical information.

Parents, we can do this! We are mothers (and OK, yes…fathers too!), and if there will be more and more health care information in our futures, it’s up to us to keep it all in order. The health careindustry is listening to the ‘battle cry’ of the empowered patient, and there is no more worthy a patient than our beautiful children.The next generation of patients will be responsible for sifting through mountains of electronic health data and for helping doctors see the forest for the trees. Are you ready to begin doing that for your children today?

Nobody knows my children and their healthstory better than I do as an involved parent (and I’m not just saying that because I’m a pediatrician.) Now I have help … keeping details in order and telling the story! Thank you MotherKnows.com for sharing in a GREAT idea, but more importantly for getting it across the finish line. There is no more deserving beneficiary of your company’s success than the life of my child.

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