HowsYourHealth.org Lots of people have contributed to the conventions doctors use to profile patients at the onset of care. No one, until Dr. Wasson, took the trouble to vet and routinize them into a survey that is as universal or easy to use as Hows Your Health? Wasson's survey is also free. Translation: hugely scalable. Wasson's questionnaire builds on earlier tools (like John Ware's SH36 survey) to produce a thorough portrait of one's physical and emotional health. Being web-based, patients can log on to HowsYourHealth.org and survey themselves, crafting a do-it-yourself PHR. Physicians, clinics, or communities can take the basic template and customize it into a no frills EMR ($250 a year, no new hardware or software). Listee Moore made this the foundation of the Ideal Medical Practices Project. The fact that HowsYourHealth isn't slick or over-designed is one reason it appeals; it doesn't feel as if you're being programmed into the lair of the Borg. Try it.

"How's Your Health is a bit like a Swiss Army Knife. The more you understand how to use it, the more you get out of it."