One massive stumbling block to wide-spread adoption of electronic health and medical record systems by providers and health systems is the lack of a positive "market force." CMS is pushing electronic data transfers and records with deadlines and potential for reduced reimbursement payments for non-compliance.
In the face of dozens of politicians clamoring for immediate adoption of HIT and even more vendors of EHR/EMR devices and systems making claims like the "miners 49ers" of more than a century ago, there is no clear "landmark" by which providers, health systems, and consumers can make decisions about what system to put to work.
An online poll- number and demographics of respondents unknown- at myPHR (an American Health Information Management Association web site) reveals about keeping health information-
♦ Not at all 7%
♦ On a flash drive or memory stick 37%
♦ On my computer 14%
♦ Through an online service 2%
♦ Loose leaf binder or paper file 38%.
If 100 people chimed in, 98 have some degree of HI and that "file" is essentially unuseable by a provider. No provider will make time to futz with attempting to decipher such "files;" time is not a luxury a provider has.
The casual poll emphasizes one effort every individual should consider making: starting a personal health record (PHR). AHIMA also has a link-list of 78 or so PHRs for us to investigate and select from.
Only through personal responsibility and effort to covert our paper-based medical records to an electronic form can we realize any benefits from health information technology. Once our data is immediately useable by a provider, s/he can begin to
♦ prevent bad medication interactions
♦ limit medication side-effects and
♦ better understand a patient's comprehensive medical history.
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