Cost saving Improved patient care MedLifeCard - MedLifeCard - Solutions for real life problems

Motorcycle Accident Sunday afternoon a call comes into a Michigan ER from paramedics at the scene of an accident: “This is unit 114 alerting you that we are inbound with a male motorcyclist who was struck by a car at an unknown speed.”

“He is unconscious and his helmet is banged up a little bit. His left leg looks broken. His vital signs are stable and we have him immobilized on a backboard to protect his spine. We’ll be at your ER in 5 minutes.”

On arrival in the ER the patient is evaluated by the trauma team. He is still unconscious. His left thigh is swollen and deformed He has bruising over the left side of his chest

His EKG shown an irregular heartbeat with an abnormal heart block. His blood count is low. His head CT scans are normal. X-rays of his left leg shows a femur fracture which will require surgery. He remains comatose.

Meanwhile, the ER staff attempts to locate his family but no one answers his home phone in Wisconsin. His driver’s license identifies him as ‘Frank Miller’.

However, in his wallet Frank carries a MedLifeCard.

The Emergency Physician follows the instructions on the card and accesses Mr. Miller’s MedLifeCard account. His medical file is downloaded and printed. His treating physician now has Frank’s medical records including copies of old EKG’s and medications.

“It says here that Mr. Miller has a history of atrial fibrillation but no mention of a heart block. He takes Digoxin for that, apparently, so let’s add a Digoxin level to his labs. The Emergency Physician quickly scans the MedLifeCard printout: “His old EKG in his MedLifeCard file is also very different from today’s EKG so let’s have Cardiology see him before he goes to surgery. He may have a cardiac contusion. “He also has had seizures in the past and takes Dilantin. Run a Dilantin level on that blood work, ok? We don’t want him to have a seizure during surgery!”

The Emergency Physician continues reading the MedLifeCard file: “Add these medications listed in his MedLifeCard file to our ER record. He’s allergic to Penicillin, too. “Here’s a phone number for his daughter who lives just up the road in Lakeview. Let me give her a call…”

The Emergency Physician calls Frank’s daughter: “Hello, is this Susan Carlisle? This is Dr. Kamhout from the Emergency Department at General Hospital. Your father was brought here after an accident on his motorcycle…Well, he’s in serious but stable condition right now and is going to need surgery…Yes, we know from his MedLifeCard about his heart condition and the seizures, medications and allergies, too. That was how we were able to contact you, in fact. Ok, call your family members and I’ll see you when you get here…Goodbye.”