Google announces program with Cleveland Clinic hospitals to digitalize medical records.
This is definitely an article I need to talk about.
1. My hometown is Cleveland, Ohio and so grew up with the Cleveland Clinic right down the street from me.
2. A tech advance in IT like this could revamp the entire U.S. health care system.
3. Revamping the entire U.S. health care system would probably result in huge capital gains in all sectors since it is the most costly in the world.
The article explains that Google and the Cleveland Clinic announced a project to digitalize medical records. This is supposed to give patients, doctors, and hospital staff fast access to electronic records. With electronic records being securely available to those with proper clearance patients hopefully will not have to fill out redundant forms over and over again. I, thankfully, have not spent too much time in hospitals but I do know the frustrations, through close friends and family, that people go through when checking in, staying, and checking out. There are a number of forms and documents needed to be filled out just for a nurse to look at your symptoms, not even for a doctor to see you. Google’s system is intended to make all of that information readily available to all those who need it, and hopefully will be able to be updated in real time.
Google is not the first to come out with this type of project. Microsoft has worked on it with a project called HealthVault, as well as a number of private companies. I am surprised that plan’s like Google’s and Microsoft’s have not been adopted in more hospitals around the country. I think there are a few reasons for this slow adoption.
The first is (1) the vast amount of personal privacy issues that are raised with making such information available over the internet. Yes, systems can be secure but no system is fully secure as long as passwords and usernames are at least known to the administrator and user. I do believe that if people put their trust in online banking security then why not also put trust in online medical security. With a combination of different levels of security and administration for a medical record the possibilities could be incredible. Patients may be able to view their own records, renew prescriptions, schedule appointments all over the internet which reduces call times to hospitals and increases staff productivity.
The second reason may be (2) that there is just so much information to sift through and digitalize. The AP article stated that "the medical records of as many as 90% of patients are hidden away in old-fashioned filing cabinets in doctor’s offices." However, investment is needed to improve productivity, reduce costs, and increase capital gains. Pay someone a few hundred thousand dollars to sift through the information and record it electronically. It will be well worth it!
On a similar note, I wonder if any of the presidential candidates are factoring programs like these into their health care reform agendas.
Obama Official Website- "Lowering Costs Through Investment in Electronic Health Information Technology Systems: Most medical records are still stored on paper, which makes it hard to coordinate care, measure quality or reduce medical errors and which costs twice as much as electronic claims. Obama will invest $10 billion a year over the next five years to move the U.S. health care system to broad adoption of standards-based electronic health information systems, including electronic health records, and will phase in requirements for full implementation of health IT. Obama will ensure that patients’ privacy is protected."
Clinton Official Website- "Billions of dollars and millions of mistakes result from the use of an outdated, paper-based medical records and billing systems. Modernizing our health care system through the use of information technology will empower doctors and other healthcare providers to communicate electronically and will reduce waste and redundancy while improving safety and quality by reducing medical errors. Today, 75 percent of health care claims are submitted electronically. However, only 71 percent of these claims are automatically adjudicated (i.e. processed without any manual intervention). Paper claims that are clean (no manual intervention) cost about $1.60 per claim; however, electronic claims cost almost half that amount ($0.85)iii. And claims that require manual intervention/adjudication cost 40 percent more than an electronic claims."
McCain Official Website- "John McCain is willing to address the fundamental problem: the rapidly rising cost of U.S. health care."
"Controlling health care costs will take fundamental change – nothing short of a complete reform of the culture of our health system and the way we pay for it will suffice. Reforms to federal policy and programs should focus on enhancing quality while controlling costs:"
"Promote rapid deployment of 21st century information systems."
So, Obama will invest $50 billion in reforming the nation’s health care IT system. Clinton will modernize the nation’s health care system. McCain will promote a 21st century health system. I could tolerate all of these, although I don’t think it will cost $50 billion and the government should encourage hospitals to adopt these systems on their own, not mandate it, and foster healthy competition [which could also be debated as some believe health care competition decreases medical care stability and quality]. They have other more important things mandates could be used for.