Like most autoimmune patients, for many years I have seen countless doctors and specialists. Keeping track of all those medical visits, as well as lab tests, and prescriptions, plus sleep, diet and movement therapy data rapidly becomes overwhelming. So Seqster built a platform to help autoimmune (and other) patients manage their health records.
I needed to more efficiently organize and visualize my health data from numerous doctors, specialists, and nutritionists. So, I decided to try the Seqster platform to help manage my personal health records. Seqster combines multiple data types, such as electronic health record (EHR), genetic, and fitness data in one secure place, providing patients with a more comprehensive view of their health data.
My experience with Seqster continues to improve
In a previous post, I documented my initial experience using Seqster to integrate my medical information into a personal health record. Since then, Seqster continues to improve. They have done several debugging updates. At my request, they have now included intermediary DNA processing platform Promethease.
My efforts to connect my DNA data the first time around were unsuccessful. Seqster did not support my DNA lab – Vitagene. However, I was able to download my raw DNA data from Vitagene and process it online through Promethease. Promethease is a literature retrieval system that builds a personal DNA report by connecting a file of DNA genotypes to the scientific findings cited in SNPedia.
Most other DNA testing services, including 23andMe, Ancestry.com, FamilyTreeDNA, Genos, etc., also use Promethease. I brought this to Seqster’s attention, and they were quick to respond. Now, you can connect data from Promethease simply by inputting login credentials, allowing Seqster to import the files directly.
I continue to be impressed by Seqster’s willingness to listen to users. It shows that they truly value patient centricity. They are willing to accommodate a patient’s wants and needs accordingly. Seqster has helped this autoimmune patient to better manage her health records. I am eager to see how they continue to expand their platform features and increase availability.
Future experiments in health record management
For future experiments, I am currently looking to apply the Seqster personal health record to Pictal Health. Pictal is an innovative service that helps patients build a visualized health story. Over time I have learned to track of all my drugs, visits and movement therapies. However, seeing how all these factors connect to each other is a completely different story. These variables are constantly changing. This means a complex, dynamic health story that is not only difficult to keep track of, but also difficult to articulate to others.
I am currently working with Pictal Health founder Katie McCurdy to create my health story, and am eager to share it with you all once it is finished.
To our readers: Have you tried any personalized genomic testing? If so, which one(s) did you like best?
Written by: Bonnie Feldman, DDS, MBA, and Hailey Motooka
