The Trotter Test: EHR/PHR Lasting Seven Generations

Fred Trotter has an article in which he discusses Electronic Health Records, the Iroquois Nation’s notion of considering the impact of the current generation decision 7 generations from now and Microsoft’s HealthVault as well as Google’s announced Personal Health Records: “…My mother died of ovarian cancer. My grandmother took a drug while my mother was in utero that increase the chances that my mother would get ovarian cancer. Any consideration given to my mothers genetic propensity to get cancer must take into account this environmental influence…My grandmothers medical record will remain relevant for at least five generations…How long should we be keeping our electronic medical records? We should ensure that they are available for the next seven generations…A private, for-profit, corporation is an inappropriate storehouse for records that the next seven generations will need. Corporations do not last long enough. Consider the Dow Jones Industrial Average, of the original 12 companies that made up the index, only one is still listed…” I propose that this henceforth be known as The Trotter Test and that it be an indicator of the length of time Electronic Health Records should be designed to last. So far the LGPL Indivo Health is the only one I would consider to be in the running.

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