Patent ID: 7668734

Claim:
A system for creating, maintaining and accessing medical histories and, in emergencies, for providing pre-authorized access to the medical histories, wherein patients pre-authorize selected parties to access the histories and wherein access to the histories is limited for many of the selected parties, the system comprising: at least one server, which has stored therein: at least one database, the at least one database, storing multiple patient files, wherein each patient file is associated with a patient and contains patient information, wherein the patient information defines a medical history of the associated patient, the patient information being stored in multiple fields within each patient file; the at least one server also having stored therein multiple access modules, wherein each access module is associated with a selected party and at least one patient file, further wherein each access module comprises multiple data files, and at least one of the data files is an access file that contains limiting information that dictates an amount of the patient's medical history the associated selected party may access; a network, wherein the at least one sever is connected to the network; a computer, wherein the computer is associated with an access module and is connected to the network, wherein the selected party associated with the access module is able to gain access to the at least one patient file in the server in accordance with the access file, and wherein the patients can use the computer to authorize access to their medical histories without the aid of an identification card or a smart card; and, an identification device that is connected to the computer, capable of identifying the patient upon physical interaction with the patient, even when the patient is unconscious, and wherein upon identification, the selected party is able to access the patient's medical history in the server in accordance with the associated access module.