Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Electronic health records (EHR) are moderns marvels. The ability to communicate and safely store patient information has the potential to greatly improve quality of care. Implementing EHR, however, is not costless. There is of course the cost of the EHR system itself and the cost of training staff on how to use the EHR system.…
An interesting article over at Kaiser Health News on electronic health records (EHRs): But 10 years after President Barack Obama signed a law to accelerate the digitization of medical records — with the federal government, so far, sinking $36 billion into the effort — America has little to show for its investment…Today, 96 percent of…
In most cases, the answer is yes. Policymakers, however, have been very excited about EHR and for good reason. For instance, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, part of the 2009 stimulus package, provided direct dollars to doctors and hospitals who adopt and “meaningfully use” an EHR system. A paper by Milstein, Green…
It depends on who you ask. In the private market without health insurance, the answer is maybe. Do patients value the ability for physicians (and hospitals) to rapidly review their records more than it cost the physician to install them? If so, then they would be cost-effective as physicians could cover their cost by charging…
How long do you think it takes for physicians and hospitals to bill an insurer for a service? Uwe Reinhardt notes that the answer depends on where you live. If you are in the U.S.: In the United States, claims settlement for medical procedures under private health insurance can take up to three months;…
Yesterday, Microsoft announced the introduction of the online medical records system titled Health Vault. Online medical records would greatly increase productivity in the health care industry since: Patients would be able to have all their health care information in one spot. Moving from one state or country to another would not entail losing your medical…