Could Health Information Technology Save Your Life?

As a recent newly diagnosed breast cancer patient I have had to fill out information forms asking the same exact questions re past medical history,medications etc, at least 7 different times with different doctors and or treatment consultations. I expect many more of the same questions (and answers) as I progress through this maze of repetitous and time consuming backwards system.

I JUST READ OF THE FINGER PRINT INFORMATION, THATS AMAZING. IM SURE THERE ARE OTHER TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN BENIFIT OUR LIFE STYLE.

That is quite a guestion, if I am dead how can I tell you that my doctor failed his job, I once was killed by two doctors, that didn't read the screen, prescribed the worng meds for me, we went home, and my wife started me on them that evening beofre I went to bed, she takes care of my meds, as I might forget one! So in the morning she couldn't get me awake, so she called 911, And they wouldn't take me cause we owoed the a hundred dollads, so she did get them the help her get me to the car, so she drove me down 55 miles to the hospital, So I was on dialiose for thre days, and I don't know all they did, but I was told that they did a lot, I was out of it for four days

Whats to keep some unprofessional person taking this info & selling it to a prospective employer or Ins. Co wether or not your applying for Insurance. It can work both ways.

I'm involved in the VA medical system. They use computers but never read what orher departments post. I still have to remind them. I take 10 different meds. one is Plavix, Asprin, and Omega 3 Fish oil (All blood Thiners). I went to Urology, They wanted to do a biopcy. I bleed when I test my blood sugar. They decided to wait until I was off the blood thiners. The dermatoligist was told the same thing this week. He decided to freeze a wart on my arm I look like I have a small pox vacination. Oops! I have concerns but security isn't one that's too tight for the family and too loose for the insurance companies. I have to friends who were told by insurance companies they used up their lifetime benefit. They had to leave and go to a new company with different ins company coverage.

A system of shared health infomation is undoubtedly a cost-saving mechanism; however, there will be many who will immediately begin to posture as to the data base being subject to misuse and abuse. Quite frankly, these information doomsayers will never be able to come up with concrete examples but then again the contrarians never do..

There has been mention of denying of employement and health insurance as a reason to protect data at all costs.

If such a data base does become manifest then the safeguard is as simple as recording who accesses it. If that information is used for purposes other than its intended use and someone suffers a civil wrong, then the matter is open for litigation.

A few successful, multi-million dollars lawsuits will establish the security of the data base.

The main problem I see with this is that as seen on tv just
last week, the insurance companies or using this info against you. Either refusing to pay for services as you had a pre-existing condition or refusing to cover you with their insurance.
That is after taking your premiums until you have a claim.
So, no, I do not think this would be good.

I'm all for upgrading technology. However, we have severe power outages in our area quite often. What happens when the power is out and computers aren't operational? Records can't be accessed. The other problem I have is: With all the hackers getting into "absolutely safe" computers, what makes you think they won't be able to access online records and destroy your life that way? (This has already happened.) And, what happens when someone with a common name (like mine) ends up with online records mixed with another person with the same name? How easily can it be "fixed"? Before they all go online (and yes, the hospitals in this area have electronic patient records -not just billing) I think more of the bugs need worked out to safeguard MY medical information or we could have many more identity thefts with much greater information destroyed.

For over 30 years I was a Health Care Information Technology specialist. At first I worked mainly on the mainframe systems which mainly did the billing. As time went on Medical Records systems were developed either for the mainframe or as a seperate system. Then the ancillaries (radiology, Lab, Cardiology etc) began computerizing each one choosing the system best suited to their methods...and guess what..none of them could talk to each other or the mainframe. I worked with hospitals all over the US many times creating interfaces so clinical information could be stored on the large mainframes..not an easy task. I could tell many stories but it would take up too much space. I am now retired but I try to keep up with the latest..and nothing has changed much. Some hospitals do have pharmacy systems which can prevent interactions or the giving the wrong patient the medication..but they are expensive..and there are quite a few hospitals which are just making it.
Another issue is the privacy issue (when you talk about doctors/hospitals/labs etc congregating all their information in one gigantic data base). Have you ever read HIPPA? (I spent much time changing systems for that). It would be great if you could have all of your medical information in one spot but given the nature of competing systems, the reluctance (or just forgetfullness) of patients to tell all, the differences between physician practices, hospital protocals, and other things we are a long way from solving the problem.
The one solution might be a smart card that you could carry with microdots of information from digitized versions of all of a persons medical records from everywhere. The problem with that would be that every hospital/ER and doctor would need the ability to transfer that information to the card and the ability to read one (talk about a monopoly for the card maker/reader company).
Until all of these stumbling blocks are resolved it will still be the responsibility of each person to carry the important information on their person (my father carried a list of allergies and a card stating he had an inter-ocular lens and we made sure his medical records from Florida were transferred to PA when he moved north tho they were only from the hospital and not the doctors).
Ah well off my soapbox.

The potential benefits of the availability of our recent (5-10 years) health history, medications, diagnoses, insurance info, medical directions, and medical providers are apparent and not so complex to begin using. I carry a flash drive on my key ring with such info altho it's not yet been used.

Whenever I see a dr. I provide a current printout of my meds, perhaps a chart of my blood pressure and pulse, or notes of changing symptoms/functioning related to my MS. Each is amazed and appreciative in the time it saves them. This is a secondary benefit. The real benefit is for myself. This is the only way I can carry and remember all this data.

If more of us took our initiative, shared it with our medical providers, and addressed some of the moral and confidentiality issues as well, each of us might benefit in speedy med history, assessment, diagnosis, prompt and accurate treatment, as well as decreased time and cost.

I'm sure such information sharing would certainly save lives, and improve treatment. But what about the legalities of dispensing information to out of network physicians/ERs? And what about the legal implications of having this information used against you by insurance carriers or potential employers, for instance?

Most important article I have seen. I have been asking for and saving my medical records for many years. Am now 85 and wonder how I can use these skillfully and who will pay attention to them. A concise printout of past medical situations is essential and a concise computerized record should be available. I have had systemic and topical allergic reactions to antibiotics every time I have had surgery in spite of my records. Anesthesiologists have to be on the team also. I hope this idea will become standard procedure.

It's way beyond time that the health care system be up to date on life saving technology. This technology would not only save doctors and hospitals time, it would save money for the people needing healthcare. Time is worth money.

Because I buy my medications from CVS, I feel that they know more about my health than my current doctor does. I recently moved to be near my family and the transfer of medical care was painful and time consuming. A 2 inch stack of papers that were never read are useless and have only been partially replaced by another set of useless and endless forms that I have filled out,probably missing important info because my memory is not as accurate as a computer.

Information Technology is so obviously the answer ! Why is it not being used ? The bottom dollar, no doubt.

There is no change that will be greater in healthcare than a change in the payment contingency. Right now my doctor gets paid according to the seriousness of my condition, the more serious, the higher the pay. His interest in my good health is flat. If society can learn to reverse this contingency and pay my doctor more when am in good health and less when am sick? His interest in my good health will rise!! This is based on a fundamental law of behavior expounded by B.F. Skinner. Behaviors that are reinforced are more likely to occure in the future. There is a constant contingency between our behaviors and the consequences that follow them. This law must be taken into account in all funding decisions for a healthy society.

As a member of the AHIMA American Health Information Management Association I know that this association is working on the Electronic Health Record. Many hospitals and clinics are preparing for this move and many have implemented it and are using it in some form or another. Patient health records do need to be protected and that is always our first concern, but it needs to be available in the right form for continued health care concerns.

Excellent article, with which I totally agree!

But we need to fully recognize that it will take a massive organized effort to get it done.

Who will lead?

Yes, I am all for health information technology. The hospital that I recently retired from is currently working to implement such a system.

I am much more interested in the doctors having access to my records and matching them to available treatment than i am about privacy issues. Also, as noted , duplication of tests and treatment could be avoided.

I think this would be great especially if you are a traveler. You never know where you will be stricken and having immediate access to your medical records is a great idea.

I believe that each of us should be making sure our doctors provide us with electronic access to our all health records. Many seniors need to go to several different doctors. We don't always remember all of the details of what took place at them and since many seniors spend time in different parts of the country at different times of the year and having electronic access to their records in the event of any illness will allow their doctors to take better care of them by being able to look at the overall picture of our health.

We use technology for diagnosis but not to maintain current up to date information and data bases on treatments, tests, and drugs for each patient. The sharing of such information could reduce costs for diagnosis and treatment. On the other hand, the information would need to be highly secure, limited from use to exclude certain types of insurance coverage, and other related issues.

Who would control the data and assure security? Severe penalities would need to be developed for those who misused the information or attempted to break into the data bases.

Finally, how does one get the insurance companies to cooperate on something like this given one cannot even get them to agree on a central processing system for filing claims?

Unfortunately the online heath information issue is not that simple. There are serious questions of privacy and regulation involved. Who can access this information and how do we authenticate their need to know? Governments have stringent regulations applying to medical equipment and some of them seem to apply Information Systems containing medical records (for example, MRI image storage). Data accuracy can become a life or death issue and requires a far stronger standard than science, finance or inventory control. With costs on the rise, are patients willing to pay higher visit fees so their doctor can have a $100,000 computer system (hardware, software, cooling, power, administration, offsite backup)?

Sounds wonderful. I go to a cancer center for my breast.
One of the reasons I am so happy is all of my records relating to the cancer are in one place. Too often people can go to the family doctor for diagnosis and then are treated by a surgeon and then on to the cancer doctor. Records are all over the place. When health information technology takes over, all the records will be easily accessed. Diseases will be more easily diagnosed and like the article stated patterns can be discovered that might lead to a diagnosis.

I suffer from several diseases or condituions, some of which are life threating such as Cancer, Diabetes, COPD and the worst of all, no immune system. I take over 30 medications and treatments some of which have a delaterious effect on a different condition. I thankfully receive monthly Gamaglobulin Infussions from the Veterans Administration which provides me some level of immunity.
I presently wear two Medical Alert Dogtags listing the key conditions, drugs that cannot be missed as well as those Doctors should be aware of for conflicts. These still do not approach all the information Doctors should have when making decisions. I have typed up a sheet, both sides, which list all the Prescriptions and Supplements I take on a continious basis, the condition it is fro, the Doctor who prescribed it, the size of the drug, strength, dosage, and frequency, list of hospitaalaaizations and surgeries.
I update this with every change and make sure all my Doctors receive the latest version at the next appointment. We have two extra copies, one for the ParaMedics when they come to provide transport to the hospital, and one for the ER people.
I also used Excel and have all my blood work results going back to 2007 so yoi can see change over a period of time These records are for Plasma, Serum and Arterial. I also provide these to the appropriate Doctors. My Oncologist ran blood test weekly for several months so there are a lot of entries. I am thinkig of putting tis on one of the Plug In Memories Sticks so those same people could pug it into their computer at everyvisit or they can download if they have room and care to. I am 72 and not very knowledgeable about all the emerging technologies.

Since my providers ha begun to didgetize all records it has been a comedy of errors, but I have long since stoped laughing. Inputing new info continues to be a challange-the system balks and refuses to accept changes. The result is I have less time for the rest of the visit. Also, now my check-in process consists of reverification of every little factoid -(about 20 questions for every visit) resulting in a tripling of non medical staff in the outer office.

correction to my post.

Blood work should say " all the way back to 2000", not "2007"
Glaicoma, ministrokes and just plain older age make for too many mistakes.

sorry

Wow! I always dred having to fill out those numerous questionnaires before being able to see a dentist, doctor, specialist, etc. This would be oh-so-helpful for the arthritic hand that has to write everything! I appreciated the dentist that sent his web site to me and personalized it with email appointment reminders. That's progress!
This automated "sharing" online between pharmacies, doctors, hospitals, surgeons, etc. would be MOST helpful!

The military has created an ID card, now called a CAC card, that will have the individuals health information on it. Given that any health technology system would never be created easily or equally, it makes sense to me to create a system that puts the info on a card the person has as well as in a larger system. Thta way, even if an ER wasn't connected to a larger system, the ER or the emergency response team computer could read the info on the card the person had with them.

this must be done . my hmo does this and the cost savings are hugh!!! every specialist in the hmo has my records, when needed, at his or her fingertips within seconds. this includes x-raysm mri's, etc.its fabulous. the problem is that area hospitals can;t take advantage of this!!! this is a situation that must be corrected.

In my opinion, this could be a vital, life saving aid to the work of all healthcare providers. It should become mandatory, if not now then in the very near future. I hope I will see this happen in my lifetime.

The access via finger print is very good. When will the medical community catch up? Why aren't insurers on board?

I think everyone is concerned about personal info security.
If there is a way to assure this, I would not mind having this info available to authorized medical personel in a medical emergency.

with national health care coming it would seem that this should be on the road to becoming a fact.what has been or starting to becoming a fact ?

A sample computerized form would be useful

i would like all doctors be required to use it.i hope it's more secure than dumpsters.

I can certainly understand the life saving value associated with having medical records online.
One thing I would say would be a danger is when you run into a doctor or nurse that does not like a particular patient. Negative comments or things that may be a opinion of that doctor could be entered into a health file and then the negative comments or diagnosis would always be there. I work at a clinic and I see this happen frequently.

We believe that it's a disgrace that a country as advanced as the United States does not utilize health information technology nationwide for all its citizens--young and old--especially when it is so easily instituted. Most doctors' offices and hospitals already use computers to store patient data so make everyone's medical history available to all medical facilities across the country (including Alaska & Hawaii). We would rather this information be available in this way to save our lives than worry about whether or not it infringes on our privacy rights. What good are privacy rights to a dead person?!

I think it is unbelievable that the medical industry has not jumped on the IT bandwagon. I believe you as a patient, should have access to your own medical records in a secure way through the internet. It would be wonderful to have my lab tests available to me to refer to or to print out to take to a new Dr. appointment. Today, since many people see multiple Dr.( I myself see 4 different Dr.) and would like them to be interacting with records and consulting as well. I lived in Colorado for 10 years, and my primary Dr. was very good about communicating with my other doctors. It was a smaller city, where most of the Dr. knew of each other. I now live in a large metro area, and I am having a tough time finding a primary Dr. Ican't seem to find any why of finding out what the internists specialize in. They send you to specialists much faster instead of working with you on managing chronic illnesses. That is why the IT idea is imperative.

This is a great concept IF health care providers could only provide effective security to protect privacy; if only health insurance companies and financial institutions would be prevented from using such information "against" people with disease. A current example: telephone companies are "technology-centric" and they cannot protect computerized phone records..

I also see many doctors being a type 1 diabetic, having had two go-rounds with oral cancer, having swallowing problems and a feeding tube. Everytime I go to see a new doctor, I answer the same questions which is a waste of precious time in the office. My medications change frequently and I can't even keep up with them. I keep my records on the computer so I can just print them out before each visit, as they are invariably not handy for the doctor. Fortunately my PCP is on-line and I can relay info to her office quite easily. It would be great it that were universally possible. Ideally we would all have a record in a central location which would be readily accessible to all hospital and medical personnel. And then perhaps insurance companies could also be accessible immediately so there was no delay getting permission to treat.

With millions of seniors living alone and a distances from any one whom can help, this would be of a great health service. I am healthy but no one knows when you will take a turn in your health. This may save a life!

I am a proponent of information technology to increase the efficacy of our health care. I have worked as a paramedic in the fire service for 20 years. One common denominator has always been the lack of sufficient patient information. More often than not a patient may be unable to provide valuable information due to injury,disease, or a language barrier. There have been attempts to bridge these gaps with some success. However, I know without a doubt there is a solution using IT which would also keep a patients information secure as provided by HIPAA.

I admit there is potential benefit in a national health database. However, until we find a way to REALLY guarantee the safety and privacy of information I find the idea terrifying. Every day we read about people stealing identify information, abd credit card data, and about the misuses of such information to deny people credit, housing, jobs, etc. NO WAY do I trust either the technology or the ethics of the industry to handle information which is dynamite in the hands of the wrong people.

PS -- NOONE should be fingerprinting children just to make checking into the orthodontist sooner. This is yet another invasion of privacy in a world where privacy is all but disappearilng.

I think it is past time for the health care industry to get on this bandwagon. I have watched as my Mother's health has gotten worse and she has been sent from hospital to hospital and all of them running their own tests when the tests had already been run at another health care facility. It is expensive, time consuming and a waste of man hours. If it were a matter of life and death then some of the guess work associated with treatment options could be better suited to the patient's needs. The health information technology system should be started immediately.

In an emergency, you go to the closest hospital. Will they have access to your records, will they complain about paperwork, will you be treated appropriately (especially on a holiday weekend)?
It would be nice to not be treated as an inconvenience.

I am a pharmacist, I think this would be a great addition. We really need this type of health information technology to prevent drug interations an allergic reactions, also would save a great deal of money and time in treating patients.

I, too, don't understand why the health care industry doesn't make use of the web to make my records available to any of the doctor's I that I want to know this. I wish I could log onto my records using something secure like my fingerprint to access my records and allow anyone I want to see it.
Why hasn't the health industry joined the 21st Century. Maybe Congress could be lobbied for this, as I am getting tired of filling out the same forms for all my doctors.

Thanks.

The medical, health and insurance companies need a lot of upgrading. It has been brought to my attention that most doctors do not want to "get into" computers. The sharing of medical information is another touchy subject.

We need to go to any doctor and have our medications, tests, dates, lab results available. I understand that a lot of information is incriminating but how can we truly help patients if we don't have the full history available. Some people intentionally hide conditions that are dangerous to themselves, their families and potentially to others.

There is great potential AND great danger in the use of technology to have all of the information about a patients in data bases. While it can be of great value in providing the patient's history and medical coverage, it can be a great danger in that it smacks of Orwellian Big Brother. The information can be used against you by corporate health care systems (denial of coverage) just as easily as it can be used to help in determining treatment. The government already has access to mind boggling amounts of information about Americans.

Employers may be able to tap into the information to determine whether they will hire a person. Police organizations may be able to tap into your private information regarding what medicines you are taking and why. There are many pratfalls to having your identification information so easily available.

It is hard to imagine a health information system that completely protects the individual from illegitimate use of the information collected about them.

I am currently employed at a Technology firm and I see how benefical IT is to our clients - not only does my company monitor their clients equipment they store critical information
regarding the companies data and voice systems. This is my personal commentary and does not reflect my companies views.

"Potential of Health Information technology" is immeasureable.
There is no better time than now, for the above-named, tobe set into motion. We, as concerned and involved, seniors, need some direction in how to go about becoming involved in making it a, "certainty".

"Potential of Health Information technology" is immeasureable.
There is no better time than now, for the above-named, tobe set into motion. We, as concerned and involved, seniors, need some direction in how to go about becoming involved in making it a, "certainty".

"Potential of Health Information technology" is immeasureable.
There is no better time than now, for the above-named, tobe set into motion. We, as concerned and involved, seniors, need some direction in how to go about becoming involved in making it a, "certainty".

I was impressed by the Veteran Administration's computerized record system. It doesn't matter what doctor where that I see, they all have access to my complete file. Some how, this type of system should be available to ALL people. Maybe it could start with the Medicare system and then migrate into the general population.

All of the medical technology in the world will not help any person, child or adult in this country, if it is not affordable. The majority of the uninsured in our country are uninsured because they are in very low paying jobs and simply do not have enough money to pay for any insurance, regardless of how low the premiums are kept. Every Presidential candidate
running has plans for universal health insurance to hopefully cover every uninsured person in this country which is very
commendable.

The Democratic candidates plans for universal health care would be run like Medicare, free of charge and would cover every uninsured person in the country for which they are widely ridiculed for as socialized medicine and the tax raises
needed to cover their plans.

The Republican candidates plans for universal health care would rely on health insurance companies with mandated low
premiums that would hopefully cover every uninsured person in the country. Unfortunately the majority of very low paid uninsured citizens would not have any extra money to afford
any insurance premium no matter how low! Thus this country
would still be in the low minority of industrialized nations with
uninsured citizens!

The cold war ended seventeen years ago and the defense budget is still kept at the level it was at the height of the cold
war and by far a much higher defense budget than any other country in the world. As a matter of fact the defense budget of the United States is much higher than many countries total
budgets combined.

The United States leads the world in the total number of prisons, jails, imprisoned citizens and citizens with no health insurance of any kind. Records to be real proud of!

June 12, 2007

Health information technology (HIT) can be beneficial as long as the patient is the head guardian or equal guardian of such information and can access it at any time without having to obtain clearance or to pay fees to medical personnel. Safeguards need to be placed to prevent alteration of HIT patient records (as is now presently done with paper records by health care providers in order to sanitize such compromising information whenever issues of liability arise) and to prevent access by unauthorized users. One of my last medical exams was for an angiogram at Kaiser Permanente Sunset Hospital in Los Angeles. The test and results were recorded in computer files. I was later informed that an unauthorized medical group had accessed such files. Once a file is compromised either through alteration or unauthorized access it is not of much value. A chain-of-custody process with imposition of severe penalty for disregarding the process can be instituted to track who and when such files were accessed and to track the changes that were made during each access into the files.

C. Gomez
Whittier, CA 90601

I've read quite a few of the comments preceding mine -- and yes, it will take a great effort as far as getting the computing systems to "talk" to one another -- and yes, the data would have to record who accesses it, so potential litigation would curb attempts to use the info for nefarious purposes, but the outcome would be efficiency, accuracy and above all that, patient safety. What could be more important?!

No on sales taxation!
No on insurances!
No on this Republican drug plan as it only benefits the rich CEO of drug companies!

We already have a government health care in the VA! Why can’t we just open the doors & let us poor folk in??? Who has not served in the armed forces? The rich serves dodgers!
I want to see the rich taxed of their income, their capital gains, & their inheritance! They are just a bunch of freeloading tax dodgers!
Sales tax only hearts poor folk like my self. The rich get tax ID numbers & front a business, order what they want at whole sale prices, & write it off as shrinkage!
Our cobra is from payment to payment. If they don't get it for that month we don't have coverage but we still have 30 days to get it in. A lot that does for us when we come home form a root cannel in pain & there is no help on drugs! This came about because they were trying to figure out how much we had to pay & they did not get that information to us until the 10 of the month. Mean while we did not have drug coverage for 10 days!!!! The time before this they forgot to credit our account as being paid! What good is this health coverage (insurance) if they can not manage their health care a month ahead let alone in a timely manner?
Let me in the VA~rather let my family into the VA! I served my time for the country & god!!! What has it gotten me????!
Disabled & COBRA!

I believe that technology can save lives but it can also be used to discriminate.

Private insurance companies should not be allowed to gather or have access to any of the information except for general unnamed report findings that could be used to benefit the well being of all people.

I am a firm believer that people would be willing to share their medical information, so long as it could never be used against them.

Medical information records should only be used to protect ones health and welfare and advance medical sicence and, never be used to discriminate or for proffit.

The only program I would support to gather this information is if we had guarnteed Universal Healthcare, whereas any pre-existing condition or genetic information could not be used against anyone.

We have a great opportunity here in California to support SB840 Single Payor system not going through the legislature for the second time. The Govenor vetoed it last year because he says he has faith in the private system. Read the senate bill and see the list of those who oppose it.

There are two conflicts of interest: the consumers and their advocates who want excellent healthcare coverage and then the opposition who want to control their proffits. Healthcare should be a right not a privaledge.

Sincerely,

Daniel Gilbrech

There is no reason in this day and age not to have everyones medical records in a centralized database. The technology exists to do this. Althought there will be initial costs, over time this would save money and also save lives. Too many medical records are still on paper and this could lead to errors when reading the records.

As a retired member of the Medical Technology business I know first hand how much EMR ( Electronic Medical Records) can protect the patient and simplify the Doctor's work by offering alternatives in drugs and therapies for a given set of symptoms as well as taking into effect the patient's known allergies and drug therapies.
The resistance of the Medical community has been a great mystery to me since they depend heavily on the biological technology, but are unwiling to trust and use computer technolies.
In my experience the pressure from Mal Practive insurance companies to use newer technologies to limit the Physician's Mal practice risks is a greater incentive to adopt the EMR technology than any governmemtal decree or regulations.
From both an Employer and Retired Medicare covered patient I believe the solution to the health insurance cost problem is to make Health Insurance mandatory, just like some states have manditory auto liability insurance. If the 40% of the population that is uninsurred had to pay some health insurance premium, perhaps indexed by their income or ability to pay, we could reduce the load on the 60% of the population that is carrying the load now.
If every family had to pay $500.00 per month for health insurance, whether paid by an employer, or self paid, or subsidized by a support program the premiums for all those now paying would decrease significantly since the average mothly family premium now exceeds $1,000.

The technology of data basing medical records has been here for a few years now, the V.A. hospital I went to in Albuquerque, N.M. uses a Delphi based application. A little over a year ago, I needed to have my knee checked out, I was amazed to see most of my recent medical history come up on the doctor's monitor. All previous notes, treatments, and yes my x-rays were there too.

The V.A. hospital here in Phoenix still uses the old folders, at least that is what they told me when I first moved here a couple of months ago. They told me I would have to put in a request to have my records transferred to this hospital, I asked why they couldn't just access them from the Albuquerque system? They didn't have the digital system in Phoenix yet.

Anyway, every medical record should be digitized, retrievable only by patient permission, using some form of Id. Password, Id card, finger print, what have you.

It is available to every medical organization, maybe AARP can find out why it is not available to all Americans, is it political, or financial (or both). Does some moneyed group loose out, and do lobbyists fight against this technology.

It is also my understanding that this move would reduce the cost of health care, but I haven't really researched that part of it, but what an easy way to have the most resent and most accurate information available instantly.

This isn't rocket science either, older documents can be scanned into the system, and the more recent history can be added in by multiple methods, the doctor can enter in notes as if they were in word processing.

I think we just need to make a bigger noise about this, don't accept the fear tactics such as somebody could get your personal information and steal it, data security has come along way.

Only problem is it benefits the insurance companies since they can see everything you were ever treated for and then deny payment as pre-existing and really stretch it as being related. An example is my friend developed MS but because she saw a chiropractor 10 years before following a car accident BCBS denied her coverage of MS as being pre-existent. This affects life insurance and long term care policies etc. It gives ins. co. the right to charge higher premiums and deny coverage. Being a nurse I have seen it all and it is very scarry. I deny everything and refuse any preventative testing for this reason when I see a Dr which may compromise my care but I do not want ins. companies to have free rein of my information to create higher profits for their greedy share holders.There is too much profit for drug companies and insurance companies in health care and that should not be since we are dealing with peoples health and financial future.

Only problem is it benefits the insurance companies since they can see everything you were ever treated for and then deny payment as pre-existing and really stretch it as being related. An example is my friend developed MS but because she saw a chiropractor 10 years before following a car accident BCBS denied her coverage of MS as being pre-existent. This affects life insurance and long term care policies etc. It gives ins. co. the right to charge higher premiums and deny coverage. Being a nurse I have seen it all and it is very scarry. I deny everything and refuse any preventative testing for this reason when I see a Dr which may compromise my care but I do not want ins. companies to have free rein of my information to create higher profits for their greedy share holders.There is too much profit for drug companies and insurance companies in health care and that should not be since we are dealing with peoples health and financial future.

Health Information Technology seems like a great concept for some. I am concerned that medical records would get into the wrong hands. As is it there is a lot of concern already about identity theft online. I would not like the wrong people to see my personal medical history.

We need to start with a universal accepted and mandated ( By Government) health care form that has all of our history on it. It could be stored in a safe place on the internet and on individual chip or thumb drive. It has to be in one format for all. Even CAT scans could be stored, but we need a universal system that all can read.

Just came from a Doctor's visit. I had to explain, I've lost track
of ths physician's I have told the same story. Morphine doesn't control my pain after surgery. It doesn't help in most instances. Wouldn't you think that information would be in my medical records? It is not. I also have recall and hear what is being said during surgery and remember it. It took years for me to get that accross-to one doctor. It still isn't in my medical records.The health care industry seems to have one main interest. MONEY!

My wife had surgery in January. New hospital, had computers on wall stations up and down the hall, about every 3rd room. We never saw anybody use them. Nurses asked same questions over and over and over, from pre-admittance to pre-op to recovery room. List of meds, prior surgeries, allergies, etc. They claim it's a patient privacy issue; however we were required to sign numerous releases several times (or you don't get the procedure). So it's a joke. They can give out your info whenever they want.

In many countries the patient is responsible to bring their medical record with them to any medical visit. The more we depend on technology the higher the cost of medicine. Example: we spend more dollars per pregnant woman than any other country in the world, yet our standing for saftey- morbidity and mortality is 39th. Our saftey decreased when we started to use massive technology tools on all pregnant women. For every new peice of high technology equipment our costs go up and doctors lose more skills. We now have a Robot doing surgery and we still pay for two doctors to do the surgery. When the doctors lose their skill because they depend on the Robot, and they will lose their skill level, what happens to the person under the knife when the Robot fails in the middle of surgery. Americans need to understand that technology and the huge cost it creates is not necessarily helping us live longer or better.

There was a story on the news earlier this of a man that needed surgery and his insurance company would not cover it, so he opted to go over seas. His wie and two children accompanied him. The cost for the four of them to fly first class, stay in a hotel, pre-op, surgery, post-op and the first class flight home cost $16,000. It would have cost $68,000 in this country. Now BC/BS North Carolina is thinking about covering patients that would prefer to go over seas. It seems to me that there is something terribly wrong with this picture. I realize our health care costs are very expensive because it costs a lot to lobby in this country.

GREAT IDEA

With my own multiple medical problems, medications and doctors in 2 towns, this could be a boon to any problems that might arise. The majority of my serious care is elsewhere, while only minor tests are taken in my small hometown hospital. They have no record of current condition or medication arrangements. If I should have a major problem here and not be able to communicate even where they could get this information, it could be from a big problem to a disaster. Our sparsely populated region would be one of the last places to get such technology, but I definitely see the benefit to many people, especially in a place like this.

Great article, e-medical records could save thousands of lives if available to all hospitals. I live in California but visit my Mom in Ohio and daughters in Maryland and New York. If I could not speak and my family would only know so much. It would a great improvement a out of state doctor could look at my health history. The key being availability but protection of private information.

It is unbelieveable the repetition of paper work.A recent experience assisting an elder in long term care with 2 discharges and readmissions within a 3 week period with all paper work redone. And New York state leading in the cost of Medicaid?
At this time we have to start tech aid.HELP

Why your idea won't work is due to the insurance co's.
I was cancelled by an insurance co. that was, as
one medical person told me, "purging their records" or
getting rid of certain patients. I had the chest pains, went
to the emergancy room, called the doctor, he said "he can't tell with out going in there and look" so he did a heart catherasation. Turns out I was fine but a nurse in his office was sending any heart related records to the insurance co.
and they cancelled my insurance? The new insurance companies ask if I had ever been cancelled and deny the application. This was a serious problem for me to insure my family. The insurance co was caught by the state of okla but I'm not sure what happened to them , if anything. True story! Hope this will help. Cliff Givens

"Technology"
We all believe that our collective "Brain Power" is the
anwser to everything. That is unless greed gets in the
way. No one wants the Insurance companys, Drug companys
and the Medical industry to starve or go "non-profit".
Lets all say a prayer for "New Technology" and watch
"Corporate Medican" like a hawk. CDG

Yes, I believe that the more IT that is used within the health care system, the better it can be. Who can be trained to train the workers that will use the technology? Why, the very ones that are going to be displaced: the transcribers who entered what doctors have taped. And let's get completely rid of doctors' handwriting. Once they get used to computers, they will like it more than writing. I'm 71 and I think it's great to replace my writing with easily corrected, legible print.

I volunteer once a week as a hospital chaplain (8 years of my ordained ministry was given to it - 2 years were training).
A head chaplain at one hospital, in the same system, suggested that chaplains learn the new system, in order to be able to help nursing staff. Great idea, as long as the spiritual care of patients, family and hospital workers does not suffer; or the education of student chaplains.

Back to the original subject, I think patient care could be tremendously improved by having a patient's full medical history available to a nurse's laptop. Medications:prescribed, OTC, herbal, vitamins, minerals, diet (restrictions and the patient's normal), etc. Before giving any medication or procedure, first it is tentatively entered onto the patient's electronic chart to see if history dictates another or modified course of action. Not only would this prevent serious mistakes, but soon would come an era of "tailor-made" care
specially designed to treat each individual, not just to make that patient better or well, but launch optimum preventative care for optimum health. Interactive information technology,
after a few years, will add years to the average life span and what's more important, will be the zest, the quality of life that will be added to our years. The precision and fine-tuning of care, that was science fiction a few short years ago, can soon become a gift to all of us, as it becomes scientific fact.

You know, AARP magazine could probably get a medical science fiction writer or futurist who could much better explore the possibilities, the hopes realized that interactive IT could and will bring within the near future. Even as it is just getting started, things that are just around the corner, but barely dreamed of, will surprise and delight us all.

Science fact then will often jump ahead of science fiction, just as when our watching men step upon the moon, jumped ahead of the myriad stories that had predicted it would be a lonely, almost solitary experience, shared by only a small crew instead of all the watchers of humankind. There are, perhaps, even greater surprises when IIT (interactive information technology) is added to the technical and emotional care given by health care professionals.

Perhaps by knowing a patient's full medical (and emotional and social, etc.) history, along with their personal genome,
medicinal sharp-shooters' bullets can be found (without the "grinding-time" of trial & error) for conditions like depression, bipolar or even cancer. Much suffering will truly become needless in even the near future.

Perhaps we should begin charting the answers to daily questions like: on a scale of 1 to 10 how bad has your mental, emotional, physical suffering been during the last 24 hours? together with other questions and observations. Year by year watch the data bases begin to go down for each diagnosed condition as the health care integration of IIT continues.

And to think it all started with a man who healed people of "all manner of diseases", showing that the Heart behind all of this, was full of love for us all.

I believe that good communication between doctor and patient is the key to obtaining quality healthcare. Likewise, good communication between doctors is also essential to ensure that one doctor knows what the other is doing. Health Information Technology may help in these areas. However, medical mistakes is a major problem today and I am not persuaded that Health Information Technology can do designed to help avoid medical mistakes. Having a case history at the ready will certainlt expedite medical care particularly in the ER. But medical mistakes are due to a physician's inattention to detail or even a lack of expertise.

As a nurse who works in a government hospital with minimal computer use, I know I would have more tine for patients if I didn't have to duplicate so much info by handwriting

THIS IS LONG O V E R D U E!!
Why are we waiting on this?

Just another way that the doctor's and hospitals can charge you for more tests, and make more money, by not having
IT heath information available nationally!

One nationwide medical system has computerized and integrated their whole system.

This includes their E.R.s and specialty clinics within each medical center and local clinic: the V.A. system. All doctor's notes,medical records, lab results, prescriptions, even X-rays are on computer and accessible to any doctor or clinic in the original hospital.

Thanks to an Internet-like network, this information is available at any V.A. medical facility. Even X-rays, C.T. scan results and other such complex images are available at any V.A. facility, thanks to a World Wide Web-like part of the network.

Combine this with the generally high quality of the V.A. Medical System, and those of us in this system are most fortunate. I am especially fortunate, as my V.A. Medical Center is one of the very best V.A. facilities in the U.S.

This makes the V.A. system, which was so praised in the AARP magazine, even better.

A few years ago, an organization offered a card with a readable magnetic strip with all my heath information on it. Unfortunately, few places had the technology to read it. I now carry a small unincrypted USB flash drive on my keychain with all my info. Any computer can read it. This is handy since I have it divided into specialists, since I see so many doctors, and often I can't remember the details myself.

yes it does seem silly er, primary doctors not get info to each other but i also concerned that sites supposed to be safe like monster.com are hacked and info compromised. Hippa and all rules that keep ers and doc from talking and sending written reports to secure fax or doctors mail does not happen how can computer system help when so many are not safe and also who pays for the safety net that keep info confidential? it has to be safe, secure and cost effective to be useful. thanks beverly

I was just discharged from the hosptial, I've been diagnosed of having COPD Exaluation. I need any information I can find on this disease. I am only 44 years old and I just found out I have this disease and it scares me to death. I really would love some help on this matter.

I think that it should be mandatory for all folks in the medical field to have a unit that will automatically have our medical records on file. And impose extremely stiff imprisonment for those who use the on line medical information for personal gain or to hurt someone intentionally.

I believe there is no doubt that healthIT(HIT) would be helpful. However, I have severe doubt that our government will solve the problem. You are doing a good job explaining the benefit. However, instead of asking people to contact their government representative, I suggest you urge people to ask their doctor why he/she does not use HIT and to try to find a doctor who does use HIT. In addition, you could facilitate the conversation by listing questions people could ask their doctor. ie We need to urge people to take responsibility for their health care and render whatever educational help we can.
Also, you could empower people by suggesting formats for people providing their own info such as suggested by Ron Aisenbrey. I bring a printout of my meds whenever I go to the doctor and simply print "see attached" when asked to fill out a form. Ron's comment causes me to think I need to take notes whenever I am asked to fill out a form in order to expand my meds sheet to a more complete record.

I am all for health information technology being incorporated into the health care system of this country,but, I think it will happen on a regional basis first, probably in the northeast and pacific west. Too many primeval americans will resist this in the mid west and the thinly veiled fascist states of the old confederacy.

Don't confuse industry or dentistry with medicine. The barriers to sharing medical information are cautiously guarded by lawyers for plaintiffs and payers. Add to that the complete lack of software products, due in part to the above, and you have a failed environment for change.
With Medicare reimbursing so well for testing and cardiology, expect those corners of medicine to be the first to go electronic. Don't expect primary care or preventative medicine to afford new upgrades. As you know, Medicare doesn't pay for physicals or preventative primary care services. Fix the legal and payer environment first, or forget about any software vender introducing a portable patient card with all of your medicines, doctors, allergies, and chronic conditions embedded into an electronic stripe. Only VISA can do that.

Privacy and non-discrimination by health insurance companies must be included.

1. Medical history should be a standardized form and encoded. As we age, it is possible to forget important issues/treatments/drugs which may have had a health impact. Specialists need for further information (GI, Oncology, OBGyn. etc,) should be standardized as well. Only new information/symptoms/needs should be required for visits.

2. All medical info should have a HICFA-like data standard with extensions if necessary which would obviate the need for further information.

3. If a drug company is licensed to SELL ANY type of drug in the US, they should be required by law to invest in their own or other's vaccine manufacturing to ensure that they all companies pay for medicines that do not have the stockholder required return on investment. This should reduce the unwillingness of companies to manufacture 'unprofitable' vaccines. Certain drugs could be defined as falling under this designation so that 'unprofitable' yet necessary drugs would be manufactured as needed.

4. Outlaw prescription drug advertisements.

5. Reduce timeframe for gross profiteering on new drugs by either enforcing the old patent timeframes rigidly OR ensuring that 'cosmetic' changes to current drugs are not granted a patent to extend the timeframe that the drug company can gauge the public for 'old' medicenes.

5b. Ensure that drug companies use of new technology reduces their costs and hence their prices to the customer.

6. Pass legislation to ensure that NEW drugs are MORE effective than older well tested drugs so that there are no more issues of companies getting profits for new drugs that are marginally better or sometimes worse than older drugs. Obviously, drugs that have reduced side-effects/allergic reactions/etc should have a fair hearing.

7. Extend Medicare type cost controls over hospital and medical parts suppliers in order to reduce increase in hospital costs. Ensure that there is a national standard for nursing care staffing.

8. Try to effectively regulate the constant recapitalization of hospitals. The constant upgrade of technology is capitalized yet costs the consumer billions in charges when much of the change is to keep up competitevely with the hospital next door.

9. Review 'reasonable and customary' inasmuch as it has cost the nation over a trillion dollars in new costs while changing nothing in the standard of care. Each year R&C costs rise because everything else rises. Why does a Board Certified doctor of ANYTHING get so much more money in Boston/NY/EastCoast than a much more qualified Board Certified doctor in the same specialty in the Midwest?? If the answer is obviously the STD of Living in the Midwest is cheaper, is that a good answer or an excuse? What about the inner city or rural area's doctor/patient ratios .... IS the R&C cost excalation paying for the relocation of Doctors out of hwere they are needed and to the areas that may suffer a glut ??

10. Place a national cost containment on both lawyers fees and individual caps on medical malpractice suits. NO lawsuit should be permitted to have a sealed verdict or sealed agreement of ANY kind.

11. Doctors, hospitals (and lawyers) should have a nationally publicly available database on their results. The entries should be standardized and enties made in less than 6 months. Issues concerning licenses, censures, and disbarments should be available immediately after the verdict is rendered.

As someone whose spouse specializes in network (ie:Internet/computer)security I can tell you that no system is foolproof and it is not that hard for a hacker to access and steal or damage information. For this reason I am concerned that we take a careful and studied approach.

I have also spent time in England and have family in Canada and have experienced nationalized or universal health care. It is frustrating at best and scary all the way around. Under universal/nationalized healthcare there is no Triage of patients regarding seriousness of condition. Everyone is taken on a first come/first served basis. My nephew in England sat 8 hours in an emergency room waiting area to be seen for a head injury. Six of those hours were spent next to a gentleman who had come in with a heart attack. The man had already been waiting 4 hours when my nephew arrived. I also have a Canadian relative by marriage who began having problems with his colon and asked his doctor to send him for a colonascopy. The first two times the doctor refused. The third time he was given an appointment for 3 months in the future. He was finally tested over 6 months from the first request. The doctor's report said that if he had been seen 5 months earlier they could have gotten the cancer with a small surgery before it spread through out the colon. All of these doctor's and all of these hospitals in England and Canada have the HIT that is being discussed here. What they don't have is quality or availability.

To fix our health care crisis is to limit outrageous lawsuits that run up malpractice premiums and run good doctors out of practice, end the "cosmetic" changes to drugs that allow for new pattens on Rx to keep the price inflated, bring and end to the crazy amount of government paperwork required which forces doctor's offices to spend huge amounts of time on-line filling out forms instead of looking at patients.

I strongly agree that technology could save lives if health histories with pertinent medical conditions and the info was stated, tests recorded with outcomes and updated with each health care visit.
Also, this should be made available so the consumer could have in his posession the same information.