Book Helps Individuals Track Medical, Insurance Records

By Jo-Ann Johnston
Tampa Tribune, Pasco Edition
March 7, 2005

(Dade City, FL) -- Donna McCaslin can't cure what's ailing you, but she says she has the next best thing: a personal medical journal to record symptoms, family histories, previous tests and medications.

"We are so highly responsible for our own diagnoses, based on what we tell our doctors," McCaslin said. Yet people often forget bits of information that are vital for doctors to know, she added.

McCaslin invented a records organizer specifically for medical and insurance data. The book, My Medical Assistant®, is sold as a three-ring binder, 9 inches long and 7 1/4 inches wide, for $21.95.

McCaslin, a retiree who spends winters in Dade City, said she got the idea for the book after realizing that as a medical consumer, she was having difficulty keeping track of her information. She also had witnessed others struggling with the same problem during eight years she spent as a secretary in the administrative and patient care areas of a hospital.

McCaslin applied her 30 years of secretarial experience to devising a portable medical filing system. The binder is easy to take along to doctor visits and pack with belongings on trips. And if you are taken ill at home and can't speak, the organizer can help family or friends communicate for you.

Helen and Mel Marshall, managers of Nancy's Natural Foods at 14140 Eighth St. in Dade City, decided to carry the book because it is "very comprehensive," Mel Marshall said. The medication pages, for instance, ask you to fill out not only the names of prescription medicines and dates prescribed, but also herbs, vitamins and supplements, along with the potency and related directions. The book also is available locally at The Book Shack, 14407 Seventh St., Dade City.

McCaslin acknowledges medical organizer titles have been on the market for years, but noted the individual titles in the category fade from view quickly. She thinks that's because the developers didn't have time to invest in marketing, as she is now. "I believe this is the hard part. You have to become involved in the book industry, and the competition is very tough," she said. Competitors also now include computer programs and Internet-based services.

There is heightened need, she said, as privacy regulations can make it difficult to get family medical histories for relatives from doctors' offices. She advises families to fill out the genetic history section of her book together. "When I speak at nursing homes, I tell patients the greatest gift you can give your child is the knowledge of their medical history."

McCaslin, 59, and husband Leon, 62, who retired from teaching, started the business with a trial run. They released My Medical Assistant® for sale in a 50-mile radius of their Pennsylvania community of Muncy more than a year ago, and sold 2,000 copies. They brought the product out for wider distribution in November, and they have invested about $40,000 in printing and related expenses

In addition to the Dade City retailers carrying the book, the organizer also can be obtained at book stores that make special orders, or over the Internet at Amazon.com, and at McCaslin's own Web site, www.MyMedical Assistant.com.

McCaslin's Web site also handles orders for refill pages and posts some free forms for downloading, including a daily schedule for medications and a wallet card.