Electronic Health Records have gotten increased support
from both Federal policy and private enterprise over the past few years. New
models of health information technology have given doctors and patients alike a
clearer vision of what health care could and should look like, according to
recent article
in Forbes. The article cites several
ideals that have come out of the models, including complete medical records
that will be sent to all of the patient’s doctors and fostering communication
between a patient’s primary care physician and hospitals or specialists. EHRs
can also serve as a consistent and lifetime health record that can assist in
illness prevention as well as treatment.
Patient access professionals have been advocating for EHRs,
citing the enhanced patient identity integrity. NAHAM’s Public Policy and
Government Relations Committee has also been talking about this, and is
currently developing a public policy statement regarding the need for enhances
patient identity integrity.
The Forbes
article cites a survey reporting that 70 percent of doctors now use EHRs, past
what most believe is the “tipping point.” These systems may be able to save
patients and doctors money in the long run, despite the cost upfront. The
savings is somewhat mitigated, however, when the systems cannot communicate
with one another. When this happens, patients still have to rely on paper forms
to request records from one doctor to give to another. This process, besides
being inefficient, puts the burden on the patient to figure out which records
to go which doctors.
To combat this, Forbes
suggests that all clinics, practices, hospitals and testing sites provide
patients a standard, printed statement at each visit, detailing how (and
whether) its staff will transmit records to other physicians and specifying
what procedures, if any, patients need to take on their own to facilitate
transfers.
While old fashioned, these steps are still needed
until a universal health records system can replace it.
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