I recently purchased a SanDisk Cruzer USB 2gig drive. I got it for a great price, so even though I have a few keyfobs, another isn’t going to hurt. In fact, it can only help, especially with bloatware on the rise like it is. Wait! I didn’t stop to think about everything we store and keep digitally. Either way, extra storage, especially portable storage, is a good thing.

When I began fiddling with the SanDisk Cruzer, I found it has this “desktop” software, so you can encrypt the contents of the drive. That’s a nice idea, but since I have no idea what’s behind that encryption, and didn’t take time to hack it, I decided to simply wipe the drive and use it how I use all keyfobs: using my own encryption source. I didn’t wipe everything off the drive, though, until I played with the stuff that came as “bonus” features.

Overall, the SanDisk Cruzer is a handy little tool, but the stuff that comes on it, at least for people who want to be productive, not play: it gets in the way. Once the entire 2gigs of space on my SanDisk Cruzer was wiped using PGP 9, I was ready to begin using it for backing up, synchronizing, and transporting files wherever and whenever I wanted.

e-Health Record from MedicAlert

One piece of free software available was the “e-Health Record,” from MedicAlert. You probably heard of them. They are a non-profit organization, based in California, and have been around for fifty years (1957, for those that need to know the year).

Anyway, since I’m a member of MedicAlert, meaning I have my dog tag, er, my necklace, I decided to check this out. It’s a pretty cool piece of software, but nothing too impressive. It’s a small version, and for those not familiar with electronic medical records, it creates a short medical summary, a printable card, and stores a file on the keyfob that medical professionals can access in an emergency. To access that file, though, they first need to know it’s there. Second, they need to know how to get into the SanDisk Cruzer, as another “tool” or “feature,” as I mentioned, was [1] whole-disk [2] encryption. If you opt to encrypt the SanDisk Cruzer, there’s no way in hell, if the software, as well as the passphrase, are even half-decent.

When you open e-Health Record, there is some information about one of their newer products, the E-HealthKEY. It’s a small USB keyfob, as well, where you can store your medical information, much like the database at MedicAlert headquarters stores. There are a few other tools in the E-HealthKEY, such as sections for keeping notes about doctor appointments, test results, etc.

At least MedicAlert works better than the software

Aside from those issues, when I checked out the MedicAlert e-Health Record. It allows you to enter a limited amount of medical information, such as health issues, medications, emergency contacts, and such. Most of the fields are chosen by using checkboxes, and it’s not the most comprehensive tool I’ve seen. The tool inside Quicken is better than the e-Health Record tool, actually. It’s just the name and reputation behind MedicAlert that wins the day.

After you finish all the five pages, you can print out a card, suitable for carrying in your wallet. When you do, it shows the card was created in 1995. That’s a major flaw in the software, and one that could easily have been fixed before it was broken. It also does not display the full phone number in the field provided for physician contact information.

I made a note to myself to drop an email to MedicAlert about that, as I was sure they’d be interested in fixing something that was clearly an ad for their E-HealthKEY.

The next day, when I had some time, I sat down and composed an email. I spent about 10 minutes or so typing the email, ensuring I wrote it in a way that carefully explained the issues I was writing about. I didn’t want anyone confused, especially if they weren’t familiar with the product.

Today, lo and behold, there’s a reply. When I read it, I as, to say the least, miffed.

I’ve been a member for several years. That doesn’t mean squat, as that only means I have the necklace and they allow me to login to a secure area of the MedicAlert site, update all my medical information, such as health conditions, emergency contacts, and medications and/or medical devices.

What were the issues? Nothing major. I mean, no, it didn’t crash the system. It didn’t corrupt the registry on a PC. It didn’t slow the computer. So what could have been so horrible that one would take to writing a company about its product?

MedicAlert records are designed to be used anywhere in the world. That’s fine, but even here, just in America, sometimes it feels as though are elsewhere in the world because of large immigrant communities in many areas. That isn’t a bad thing, and not the focus of this post. It’s to drive a point.

In medical, abbreviations are used, most of which are common. Q.D. means every day. O.D. is used to mean occupational disease, occupational disorder, officer of the day, once daily, overdose, or right eye. M.I. means myocardial infarction or mitral insufficiency.

As you can see, an abbreviation can mean many things. If there’s a word not spelled correctly and the person reading it is from another country, or is in another country, could the word in question be mistaken for something else? Possibly, depending on the word in question.

Either way, there were spelling errors, so I decided to contact MedicAlert so they could update the software and release a new version.

I wrote to let them know about the spelling errors, as listed below. The information below, though, is not in the detail that I sent.

On the “Medical Info” tab, Atrial Fibrillation is spelled as “Fibrilation” (it is missing an “L”). On the “Allergies” tab, instead of listing “Sulfa,” you list “Suffa.”

I also suggested they include a section where people can list other health issues or conditions not listed in the pre-defined lists.

As I said, MedicAlert replied. What did I get? It was pretty much a simple form letter from a “Support Specialist” with a ranking of “Member Service Associate, II.” Well, it was customized – slightly. There was brief comment about the actual reason for my contact. Never waste or miss a marketing opportunity. In this case, though, it was wasted, and instead of being missed, it was so far off the mark, it’s pathetic.

Thank you for taking the time to share your concern with us. The MedicAlert Software offered on the u3.com Web site is an advertisement which offers a mini version of our E-HealthKEY product. This program allows you to print a medical emergency card.

Our Key has the software loaded within the E-HealthKey. The E-HealthKEY has 128 megabytes of memory. Internet access is required and the computer’s software must be either Windows 2000 or Window XP. The E-HealthKEY plugs into the USB port of your computer and the E-HealthKEY’s software will begin to load. The E-HealthKEY program will automatically launch and upload information from your MedicAlert record. You may then edit or add to your information. You are able to update both the key and your membership records on our server simultaneously. In addition, your membership records would always be saved in case the key were to become lost or damaged.

This is the start of the form letter.

The MedicAlert E-HealthKEY enables you to capture your entire medical history onto one small portable device. The key allows you to track medications and dosages and store a host of medical images, such as X-rays, MRIs, EKGs, sonograms and more. You may graph key metrics such as blood glucose levels, weight loss or cholesterol levels. You may enter health insurance information and you can also set and receive automatic reminders for appointments and prescription refills.

You may wish to contact your physician regarding accessing your information stored on the E-HealthKEY; as well as their method of uploading your medical history to the E-HealthKEY. Your physician may have the capability of uploading test results, such as x-rays and other images onto your KEY for you. You may scan and store approximately four documents on your E-HealthKEY; depending on the size of the images.

For a MedicAlert Advantage Member, the cost of the E-HealthKEY will be $49.95. To purchase the E-HealthKEY, requires a MedicAlert membership. The MedicAlert enrollment fee is $40. The total cost to enroll in the MedicAlert service and purchase the E-HealthKEY is $89.95. There is an additional cost to order an emblem, depending on metal and style.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions.

We appreciate your interest in MedicAlert Foundation, the leading Healthcare Informatics Company, Celebrating our 50th Anniversary in 2006.

I can understand marketing, but what I can’t understand is the mentality of so many people working in customer service jobs that cannot, or seemingly will not, read the information shared with them. Too many companies, sadly believe customer service means telling the customer the total cost of the order and accepting the payment. That is not customer service, nor is outsourcing “support” assistance.