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Today, a person can sit down at a computer and find out a great deal about almost anything--from finding a video about home plumbing repair to learning where the neighbors contributed politically. The one thing Americans do not have access to on any computer is their own health records. Eight out of 10 physicians still work only with paper records, either making notes on paper that is thrown in a file, or perhaps dictating notes into the telephone where the patient information is turned into a document, but not one that is accessible to anyone else. If a patient goes to a facility for a mammogram, an X-ray, or a scan of some type, that record is now stored digitally, but these records are often stored in a form that is unique to that facility and not available to others.
To the patient with any sort of complex problem, this creates a tremendous dilemma. A very simple example might concern a person with back pain; he may have consulted a physician who recorded notes on the visit by hand and then sent the patient off to get a scan of the spine. The scan was conducted, evaluated, and sent to the physician who ordered the test. In the meantime, some of the exercises and the pain reliever prescribed by the physician have begun to work, and the patient forgets about the problem. Then he goes on a ski vacation where he reinjures his back. Doctors in the ski community where he seeks help have to start all over again. It is a Saturday, the patient's records are in handwriting in his own physician's office 200 miles away, and the scan of his back is digital but the patient has no way to get that scan sent to the doctor treating him that day.
Imagine how different--and how much less costly--it would be if hospitals, medical testing facilities, and physicians were required to maintain electronic records (in a format that could be accessed by all facilities in the United States). Or patients could add a medical records USB flash drive to their key chain so that if and when they ever needed access to test results or past medical history, they could simply provide the data storage unit to the physician whom they were consulting.
Many people worry about privacy. They fear that if patient health records were electronic, hackers could find ways to access information and use that information--anything from a former drinking problem to a chronic illness--to embarrass a person or discriminate against them. Most medical professionals feel there is no reason to worry about privacy of health records. The 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ensured that medical records could not be accessed without permission by employers or anyone else without medical need. While health records are available to insurers and could cause problems, for the most part there is no reason to worry. Information technology for health care received $20 billion of the $787 billion stimulus package in 2009, so it is hoped that hospitals and physicians will set up systems that provide an overall network to give access to anyone involved in providing medical care. This would improve the quality of care patients receive.
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