ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS AND YOUR PRIVACY

HOSPITALS PUSHING FOR ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS ON EVERYONE

 

 

EHR, electronic health records, are being pushed on you and your doctor.  Nearly all the hospitals have some form of HER system in place today.  Government health care policy makers, hospital system administrators and insurers feel the HER is the key to improve health care delivery and save themselves a lot of money.

 

Congress modified the Stark ant kickback regulations that let hospitals pay up to 85% of the HER software cost for doctors using their hospitals.  Officially, the law prohibits any direct financial inducement for referrals, and so there are no obligations for a doctor who accepts HER to refer patients to that hospital.   However, you will only get tech support if you send people to that hospital.  And with hospital getting volume discounts on hardware of 15%, the set up cost of about

$60,000 will cost the doctor nothing.  But what will it cost you?

 

Blue Cross/Blue Shield and other organizations are pushing HER systems into every doctor’s office.    The hospital benefits from a well-wired network of doctors in their communities.  All patients’ records get through the system.  The hospitals will save money by reducing duplicative tests.  Physician practices can be studied.  There will be fewer redundant lab tests, faster claim processing and lower accounts receivables.

 

 Medicare will be able to get the doctors to comply with formulary guidelines and they will be able to document the doctor’s compliance.

 

Less time will be spent with you on the phone and all the information will be available to everyone.  Everything you told your doctor, will be passed through the system.

 

The whole idea is to finally redesign the medical practice and make medical care cheaper and more efficient.

 

How are you to maintain privacy and consumer protection?  How can you remove data that was put in wrong?  Have you ever tried to change Equifax report on you?  Be careful what you tell your doctor with his EHR.  It will be at everyone’s fingertips.

 

What do you think?

Visit me @ www.drneedles.com.  Your comments are always welcomed.