The Conservative Cave

Current Events => Political Ammunition => Nationalized Health Care and Its Potential Horrors => Topic started by: cavegal on January 24, 2011, 04:17:12 PM

Title: Going digital may not improve U.S. patient care
Post by: cavegal on January 24, 2011, 04:17:12 PM
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41239086/ns/health/

Quote
CHICAGO — Electronic health records — touted by the White House as a key way to improve healthcare in the United States — may actually do little to improve quality, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

A team from Stanford University in California analyzed nationwide survey data from more than 250,000 visits to physicians' offices and other outpatient settings between 2005 and 2007.

They found electronic health records did little to improve quality, even when there was "decision support" software that gives doctors tips on how best to treat individual patients.


"Across a wide range of quality indicators there was no consistent association between having those electronic tools available and providing better quality of care,"
Title: Re: Going digital may not improve U.S. patient care
Post by: zeitgeist on January 24, 2011, 04:29:31 PM
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41239086/ns/health/
 

One of the things I would appreciate is having my complete records available when I travel.  Not so sure I am wild about a software diagnosis but it would be nice not to have to try am remember when I had what done where and by whom. 

I can certainly appreciate the concern many may have about security but think about the medical records which are floating around in the mail today being handled by who knows whom all across the country.
Title: Re: Going digital may not improve U.S. patient care
Post by: DumbAss Tanker on January 25, 2011, 10:41:07 AM
I think anyone who had worked with digitized records in any other professional field could have told them that.
Title: Re: Going digital may not improve U.S. patient care
Post by: true_blood on January 25, 2011, 08:01:16 PM
But,...but,...the communist community organizer said it would be great!
 ::) ::)
Title: Re: Going digital may not improve U.S. patient care
Post by: MrsSmith on January 25, 2011, 08:46:53 PM
It won't be great in a lot of ways...not the least of which is that we'll begin to depend on the E-record, and then the PC will lock up, the 'net will go down, the hard drive will fry, etc.   :thatsright:  Outside of fire or flood, paper doesn't ever just "quit working" right when you need it.

There will also be case after case where one missing letter, transposed number or other glitch make it impossible to find someone, or all their records, or something.  Of course, that happens with paper, also...it's just easier to go looking for something material.

On the bright side, we are currently working on some of those issues.  My hospital has been training nurses for a couple years already about checking for minor errors like that to correct things.  It doesn't usually work, yet, but I'm thinking it won't take much longer than another...decade.  Or so.   :bawl: