May 2008 - Epilepsy Australia

Epilepsy Australia & miVitalspartners in promoting personal health managementAccess your health records anytime, anywhere!Living with any chronic healthcondition requires keeping a recordof doctor’s appointments, who yousaw, what tests were carried out andwhen, and the results, a history of themedications and doses prescribed, and inthe case of epilepsy, a record of seizurefrequency, hospital admissions andinjuries to name just a few.And how often do we misplace our olddiaries, or lose them when moving, ordepend on our doctor to keep the recordsfor us only to find that when we changedoctors it’s not as easy as we thought tohave our records passed on.Managing and monitoring our healthrequires a fair bit of organisation on ourpart and quite frankly, we are generallynot very good at it.However there is now an innovativesecure health management system,miVitals, that allows you to store andmanage your health records online.miVitals is like an online filingcabinet for your personal health andlifestyle information. It enables peopleto record, manage and access vitalinformation 24/7, from anywhere inthe world. Information from traditionaland complementary medicine, optical,dental, fitness, pregnancy and chronicillnesses such as epilepsy is centralisedand integrated. Members can alsoattach, or have their health professionalsattach documents such as reports, testresults, and scans. Respecting privacyissues, miVitals members have theability to share select information withprofessionals or family involved in theirhealth management. Vital informationis also accessible in the event of anemergency.Developed by an Australian company,miVitals Technology Pty Ltd bringstogether twenty years of knowledgeand networks in health care with stateof the art and commercially successfulinternet innovation. It is among the firstin the world to provide a secure onlineproduct which is people and professionalfriendly, yet consumer driven. miVitalsengages consumers directly in managingand monitoring their health, whichpromotes health and wellness.The driving force behind miVitalsTechnology Pty Ltd and its ChiefExecutive Jude Foster says “ I wanted todevelop a system that promoted healthand wellness and didn’t define people bytheir illness.”In assessing the system, it becameclear to Epilepsy Australia that miVitalsoffers a unique tool that could greatlyassist people with epilepsy in their selfmanagement. Epilepsy Australia andmiVitals agreed to work together toraise awareness that for many peopleepilepsy is a chronic health conditionthat requires ongoing monitoring andthat this can be easily achieved by usingmiVitals.miVitals is easy to use and allows youto record your medical history, keeptrack of changes to medication/s andchanges to doses, add seizure activityand record notes for each event, attachtest and scan results, store, update andaccess your Epilepsy Management/Action Plan, along with any otherinformation you consider relevant.To help you get started there is aGetting started video which clearlydemonstrates how to complete eachcategory in the core health module.Simply entering your healthinformation or the information ofsomeone in your legal care on miVitalsmeans that you no longer have to rely onyour memory or the memory of otherswhen providing medical informationabout yourself or the person in your care.And if you find it difficultremembering appointment dates andtimes, you can schedule miVitals tosend you a free reminder by SMS text oremail.“We are delighted to partner withEpilepsy Australia and offer miVitals tomembers and the wider community atlarge, says Jude Foster, Chief Executive,miVitals Technology Pty Ltd.Epilepsy Australia CEO, RussellPollard, says “the advantages of thistechnology for people living with achronic health condition like epilepsymeans your records can be accessedanywhere, anytime via a computer,whether that be at your doctor’s surgery,hospital emergency departments, oranywhere in the world, ensuring thoseresponsible for treating you have yourmedical history and current treatmentregime at their fingertips.“At Epilepsy Australia we arecontinually on the lookout for resourcesthat enable people with epilepsy toactively participate in their healthmanagement and miVitals offers themost comprehensive online resourcecurrently available.“miVitals leads the way in consumerdriven health management and asEpilepsy Australia is Australia’s leadingconsumer-led epilepsy organization, itis most appropriate that we join forcesin promoting the active participation ofall consumers in their personal healthmanagement.”The Epilepsy Report invites readers toregister with miVitals (its free), test drivethe system and email your feedback todchapman@epilepsyaustralia.netRegistering with miVitalswww.mivitals.com may be the besthealth decision you ever make.26 THE EPILEPSY REPORT MAY 2008