Hospitals are now required to post their pricing so patients have a better idea of what medical costs will be. However, the ability to shop hospitals and select one based on price is greatly limited by patient record access. The reason? Not all hospitals have the same access to your medical records. Without your full medical history, seeking care from that more affordable hospital may set you back weeks or months while you wait for transfers of your medical records from one or more sources to that hospital.

This delay in seeking medical care when selecting a hospital based on price may end up costing hospitals and patients more as patient conditions continue to deteriorate during the wait. The lack of access to medical records by hospitals and consumers has been a long-term condition of medical systems but can be cured by the MyLifeID solution where consumers can download and carry their medical records with them anywhere, any time. Systems like Medicare’s Blue Button support transferring information to MyLifeID as do other systems around the globe.

Selecting a hospital based on price is not always the best way to make healthcare decisions and cannot always be done in a crisis. However, having the MyLifeID solution on your side works in any scenario, with or without internet connectivity. In fact, many opportunities to select a hospital based on price can be realized if you have your medical records easily accessible and sharable via the MyLifeID solution. Carry medical records on a secure portable Pocket Cloud™ wherever you go in the world and make your information available in multiple languages.

In many cases, doctors are only able to work in certain hospitals, so being able to provide your entire medical history can make a difference in the quality of care you receive when selecting a hospital based on price. Doctors can easily search and review the medical records on the MyLifeID card without the need to install software or know how to use the MyLifeID solution, making it quick for them to identify key factors in your diagnosis and treatment. Insurance may play a factor in overall pricing, but often is not a limiting factor as many believe, so feel free to choose with MyLifeID.