The assertion that electronic records will save money is largely a myth. Obama and the other Democrats should know better.
There are two ways to adopt universal electronic records.
Implement VistA free of charge to every physician office in the country. If the politicians are so confident that electronic records will save money, this is a no-brainer.
Or, mandate physicians to implement VistA as a condition of receiving Medicare payments. This can be done in conjunction with a significant increase in physician payment rates.
Otherwise, the piecemeal, half-assed attempts at modernizing health IT will surely continue.
Related posts:
- The low adoption rate of electronic records
- How the widespread adoption of electronic medical records can raise health care costs
- Money for electronic records
- How to fund electronic medical records wisely
- Electronic records and economic sense
- Paying doctors by the hour will increase the adoption of electronic medical records
- Poll: Will electronic medical records really save money?
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Ominously, the Rs favor electronic records also.
The truly bad ideas, like McCain-Feingold, No Child Left Behind, corn-based biofuels, and electronic records, often enjoy enthusiastic bipartisan support.
Primary care docs – as envisioned by our politicians – will become data entry techs who are forbidden to think.
C’mon, how naive is it to think that a single electronic system is the universal solution for every physician and healthcare system everywhere?
The key isn’t the system, it’s the interoperability and ensuring all systems can import/export records to and from one another without any type of pre-existing agreement in place (so much for Google Health), or proprietary data schemas. It is not saying, “You all must use System X, regardless of whether it fits your practice or business model.”
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