But Brown’s binders are rare among patients, many of whom believe their life’s medical records already follow them around from doctor to hospital to pharmacy, according to a report by the Markle Foundation’s Connecting for Health initiative.

The report was unveiled at a June 5 event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and applauded by HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy and presidential hopeful Gov. Howard Dean, D-Vt.

Connecting for Health includes more than 100 public and private organizations dedicated to bringing the health care system into the electronic age. Health care has lagged far behind other fields in fully integrating information technology, according to the event’s speakers.

“Today’s medicine is still practiced as a cottage industry, a paper-based art,” said Russell J. Ricci, M.D., of IBM Global Healthcare Industry.

Their report recommends a set of data standards for medical imaging, prescription drug information, lab tests and several other types of medical communication. It also concludes that nearly two-thirds of Americans surveyed by the initiative would support at least some features of a Personal Health Record, an Internet-based set of tools including lifelong health records, the ability to transfer files and e-mail doctors and to track medication and test results.

To read more about the initiative and to download the key findings of their report, go to here.