Digital medical records by 2015?
Most medical records are currently kept on paper, with only 10 to 15 percent of U.S. physicians using electronic medical records. Regardless, most of the 50 EMR systems introduced in the last decade can't talk to each other. Sure, the technology to digitize and store medical records has been around for like, forevah, but without standards, any effort would be fruitless. Enter the beloved US government — Hillary Clinton and Bill Frist have introduced bipartisan legislation intent on making the switch to digital medical records within ten years. The bill would establish standards for electronic interchange of health data while ensuring the security of electronically accessible patient records — all for the low, low price of $276 billion. As staggering as this sounds, it is expected to save up to $74 billion per year (or 5% of health care spending) in preventable procedures and efficiencies gained — not to mention saving the tens of thousands of lives lost due to preventable record keeping and charting errors. Sounds good, now show us the pork.
