If a parent ended up in the ER tonight, could you list every medication in 60 seconds?

Most of us couldn't. Photograph Mom's or Dad's pill bottles, insurance card and discharge papers. ParentFile reads them, you check every line, and you get one printed page the ER can use and a link your siblings can open.

Check how ready you are (2 min)Get the kit, $79

One payment. Covers two parents. 30-day refund, no questions asked.

Emergency medical information

Margaret A. Ellis

Born March 3, 1947 (age 79). Speaks English

ALLERGIES: Penicillin (hives); Sulfa drugs

Current medications (4)

Metoprolol succinate ER 25 mg	Take 1 tablet by mouth once daily
Apixaban 5 mg	Take 1 tablet by mouth twice daily
Levothyroxine 75 mcg	1 tablet every morning before breakfast
Atorvastatin 20 mg	Take 1 tablet at bedtime

Emergency contacts

Susan (daughter): 555-0142

David (son): 555-0187

Doctors and pharmacy

Dr. R. Patel (cardiology)

Main St Pharmacy

Last verified: Oct 25, 2026 by SusanOrganized by family. Not medical advice.

Illustration with sample data. Every item is checked by you before it goes on the sheet.

“What medications is she on?” It's usually the first question at triage, and it gets asked again on admission, at the pharmacy and on discharge.

The answer is printed on bottles in a kitchen cupboard 40 minutes away. ParentFile puts it on one page, in your bag, on the fridge and on your siblings' phones, before the call comes.

Why the information is never there when it's needed

The binder that never got finished

The printable planners run 135 to 260 pages. People buy one, fill in the first section, and it sits on a shelf. The page you need at 2 a.m. is the one that's still blank.

It lives in five places and one head

Some of it is on pill bottles in Mom's kitchen, some in a patient portal you can't log into, some on a sticky note, and the rest only you remember.

Your siblings are guessing

Your brother gets the call while you're on a plane. He knows Dad takes "a blood thinner". He doesn't know which one, and the ER needs to.

Discharge day changes everything

Fourteen pages of discharge papers, three new prescriptions, one stopped, and a follow-up nobody wrote down. The med list on the fridge is now wrong.

Three steps, about 10 minutes, one evening

Snap
Take photos of each pill bottle, the insurance card, and any discharge papers or medication lists. Your phone camera is enough.
Confirm
ParentFile reads the labels and shows each item next to its photo. You fix anything that's off and confirm. Nothing goes on the sheet until you do.
Share or print
Print the one-page ER sheet and wallet cards, put one on the fridge, and send the view-only link to your siblings.

Inside the kit

Everything the ER, the pharmacy and your siblings ask for

One-page ER sheet: Allergies in red at the top, then current medications with directions exactly as written on the label, conditions as written on documents, doctors, insurance and emergency contacts. US Letter or A4.
Wallet cards: Two fold-in-half cards per page, with a QR code that opens the latest version.
Medication list: Name, strength, directions, prescriber, pharmacy and refill date, with the photo it came from beside each one.
Contacts: Doctors, pharmacy and the people to call, in the order you want them called.
Documents map: Where the healthcare proxy or POA, HIPAA release, advance directive, DNR or POLST, and will are kept, who holds a copy, and what's missing. UK: both LPAs, NHS number, GP practice.
Discharge "what changed": Photograph the discharge papers and see New, Changed and Stopped medications side by side with the current list before you accept anything.
Sibling link and QR: A view-only link with an optional PIN. Your brother opens it in any browser. Nothing for anyone else to install or sign up for.

An honest comparison

Binders, document vaults and caregiver apps all help some families. Here's where each one lands for this particular job.

What matters	ParentFile	Printable binder	Document vault ($100-120/yr)	Caregiver app
Time to a usable sheet	About 10 minutes from photos	Weekends of handwriting	You type every field	You type every field
Fits on one page for the ER	Yes, built for it	No, 135 to 260 pages	Not designed for print	Sometimes
Siblings can see it	Link or QR, no sign-up	Only whoever holds the binder	Each person needs an account	Each person installs the app
Stays current	Re-snap a bottle, "last verified" date on every sheet	Pencil and crossings-out	Manual edits	Manual edits
Price	$79 once for two parents	$7 to $25, plus printing	About $100 to $120 a year	Often free until your data is in, then a subscription
If you stop paying	Sheet, cards and PDF stay yours	Paper is yours	Access ends with the plan	Some lock your data behind the paywall

Time to a usable sheet

ParentFile: About 10 minutes from photos
Binder:: Weekends of handwriting
Vault:: You type every field
App:: You type every field

Fits on one page for the ER

ParentFile: Yes, built for it
Binder:: No, 135 to 260 pages
Vault:: Not designed for print
App:: Sometimes

Siblings can see it

ParentFile: Link or QR, no sign-up
Binder:: Only whoever holds the binder
Vault:: Each person needs an account
App:: Each person installs the app

Stays current

ParentFile: Re-snap a bottle, "last verified" date on every sheet
Binder:: Pencil and crossings-out
Vault:: Manual edits
App:: Manual edits

Price

ParentFile: $79 once for two parents
Binder:: $7 to $25, plus printing
Vault:: About $100 to $120 a year
App:: Often free until your data is in, then a subscription

If you stop paying

ParentFile: Sheet, cards and PDF stay yours
Binder:: Paper is yours
Vault:: Access ends with the plan
App:: Some lock your data behind the paywall

Typical prices and features as of October 2026, based on public listings. Individual products vary.

One price. Two parents. Yours to keep.

No trial that turns into a bill. No per-sibling fees. You pay once, and the sheet you build is yours whether or not you ever pay again.

ParentFile Kit

$79one-time, covers 2 parents

Photo reading, ER sheet, wallet cards, med list, contacts, documents map
Discharge "what changed" tool and sibling link with QR
12 months of Keep Current included
After that, Keep Current is optional at $59/year. Reminder email 7 days before renewal, cancel in one click
Your sheet, cards and PDF export stay yours forever
30-day refund, no questions asked

Get the kit, $79

Secure checkout by Paddle, our Merchant of Record. Prices in USD; local taxes calculated at checkout.

Two promises, in plain words

Try it for 30 days

If it isn't for you, email support@getparentfile.com within 30 days of purchase and you get your money back. No form, no questions. Refund policy.

Treat Mom's information the way you would

Encrypted in transit and at rest; each family's records are walled off from everyone else's.
Photos are deleted automatically after the details are read, unless you choose to keep them.
We never sell or rent data, and there are no ads in ParentFile.
Share links are long random codes. Add a PIN, hide insurance numbers, or switch a link off at any time.
Export everything as PDF or a data file, or delete your account and all of it, whenever you like.

Plainly: ParentFile is not a doctor, hospital or health plan, so HIPAA doesn't apply to us. The US Federal Trade Commission's Health Breach Notification Rule does, and we follow it, including notifying you if your data is ever breached. Privacy policy.

Questions people ask first

I can do this with a free form. Why pay?

You can, and if a free form works for your family, use it. We give one away: the blank ER sheet.

What you pay for is the part a form can’t do: reading the labels for you, putting the result on one page, a QR and link your siblings can open, and keeping it current when a hospital stay changes the list.

Is the data safe?

It’s encrypted in transit and at rest, each family’s records are isolated at the database level, and share links are long random codes you can switch off at any time. Photos are deleted once the details are read, unless you choose to keep them. We never sell data and there are no ads. More in the privacy policy.

My siblings won't sign up for anything.

They don’t need to. You send a link (or they scan the QR on the fridge sheet) and it opens in their phone’s browser. You can add a PIN, hide insurance numbers, or switch the link off.

Dad takes 15 medications and sees 6 doctors. Will it fit?

That’s who it’s built for. Snap each bottle; the sheet shrinks its type to keep everything on one page, and the full medication list has no limit. Long lists are exactly where reading labels saves the most time.

What if I stop paying?

The $79 kit includes 12 months of Keep Current. After that it’s optional at $59 a year, and we email you 7 days before it renews. If you don’t renew, the sheet, wallet cards, share link and PDF export keep working. Only new photo reading, the discharge tool, sibling update alerts and the dose log pause.

Is this medical advice?

No. ParentFile organizes what’s already written on labels and documents. It doesn’t recommend doses, check interactions or diagnose anything. Every sheet says “Verify with prescriber/pharmacist”, and you confirm every item before it’s saved.

We're in the UK. Does it work?

Yes. Sheets print on A4, and there are fields for the NHS number, GP practice, both Lasting Powers of Attorney (health and welfare, property and financial affairs) and a Message in a Bottle note.

Is it a subscription?

No. The kit is a single $79 payment. Keep Current after the first year is a separate, optional choice you make later.

Find out where the gaps are, before anyone needs the answer

The Hospital-Readiness Check takes about two minutes. It scores how quickly your family could hand over a parent's information today and lists exactly what's missing. Or skip straight to building the sheet.