Ezra Klein doesn’t think so:
Until the provider community decides to step up and commit to one (or even a couple) standard electronic health record platforms, G-Health won’t be much more than a curiosity.
That’s true. Unless there is absolute seamless interaction between the EHR and G-Health, no physician will take the time to enter patient records into Google.
If Ezra wants a single, universal EHR nationwide, the government needs to step up and pay for it. And not some half-assed attempt like VistA.
I mean all of it. Computers, implementation, software, support and resources to convert paper records to the EHR.
That’s the only way we can get truly universal electronic records. Government needs to step up to the plate and pay for every single aspect of transition.
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{ 4 comments }
We need standards. Thats the biggest part. A single standard that multiple EMRs and EHRs and PHRs and whatever other Rs there are can use, so I know that I can transport patient information to another system without a conversion. So I know that when I buy a system, if the company goes under the files will still be portable to another system. So patients know they can change a doctor and request records and have it take minutes instead of weeks.
So long as patients have write access to their records — which means they can modify their records at will — any physician is a fool to trust anything that has been proxied through Google Health.
That said, a standard format is most definitely needed.
I think the FedGov dropped the ball by not starting this years ago. If they are attempt it going forward, they should require that doctors and hospitals use it for newborns, so the exponential transition costs are mitigated.
In the meantime, the system is broken and the costs to fix it, unfortunately, are unfeasible.
I am responsible for protecting my patients confidences. How could I possibly turn their records over to a company where I don’t control access to them? That would be an insanely irresponsible breach of trust!
Can anyone imagine “Googlelegal” for attorneys to keep their clients files!
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