I’ve been reading a lot about Barack Obama’s stimulus plans through the lens of infrastructure lately as I completed a couple of articles about smart growth and public transportation systems.
Yesterday, though, the media covered another angle on Obama’s economy plans, and it’s one that’s much more relevant to the subject of this blog. The proposal? Computerize all U.S. medical records in 5 years.
Technology in the health care arena popped up on the radar during last year’s presidential race, but if you haven’t read much about it yet, here’s the short version: as electronic records make the U.S. health system run more efficiently, health care costs will eventually go down.
Ever sat in a doctor’s office with a child who can’t breathe well, while you and the pediatrician wait on a fax from the ER or walk-in clinic you visited the night before? Then you’re probably more familiar with the inefficiency problem that you’d like to be, just like me.***
Here, I’ll do a little subjective streamlining of my own:
Instant access to records = less wait time for appointments = the ability to see more patients in a day = more profit = lower co-pays for you and me (eventually).
The health care landscape is way more complex than this little example, obviously, and streamlining involves more than just the interaction between doctor and patient.
Should the U.S. implement this plan, though, we’d have to pony up the dough for all these new systems first:
Independent studies from Harvard, RAND and the Commonwealth Fund have shown that such a plan could cost at least $75 billion to $100 billion over the ten years they think the hospitals would need to implement program.
That’s a huge amount of money — since the total cost of the stimulus plan is estimated to cost about $800 billion, the health care initiative would be one of the priciest parts to the plan. – CNN
I imagine this country is full of folks who don’t care one way or the other. In the long list of problems that keep them awake at night, a paper-based medical records system probably hovers near the bottom after rising unemployment and possible job insecurity, houses they can’t sell, businesses they can’t turn a profit on in this economy, and so on. You get the idea.
Here’s something to chew on, though.
I pay my bills online. Most of my work–and the payment for that work–is conducted over the Internet, too. Even my kids’ elementary schools are somewhat networked to the extent that I can check on various test results and even the balance in their lunch accounts.
As Forbes’ Sramana Mitra points out (via The Health Care Blog), start-ups doing the same type of thing for health care are posting some impressive numbers:
Athena Health, for instance, offers a software-based subscription service to doctors’ offices that helps them collect reimbursements from insurance companies. . . . Athena serves nearly 12,000 physicians and manages over $2 billion a year in revenues on their behalf. The company went public last year and generated over $100 million in revenue in 2007. In 2008, Athena will do over $130 million: a successful, high-growth company by all counts.” – Forbes
Mitra’s column has generated all sorts of arguments over the pros and cons of a health care tech bubble and really, I should stop right here and leave all the number-crunching to the finance folks who actually know what they’re talking about.
From a patient perspective, though, I say, “Shorter wait times? Better records coordination between hospitals, walk-in clinics, and doctor offices?”
Assuming the finance question and the security issues are solved, Yes, please.
***Luckily, this scenario hasn’t played out in a long time since we have gotten my kid’s respiratory and digestive health under control.
I would think it would prevent a lot of greater issues like drug interaction/allergy problems, etc. If someone’s in the ER and are stressed and upset, they aren’t likely to remember everything they should tell the nurse. Since prevention is generally less expensive than dealing with an issue, it might help defray costs.
Hi Amy, ( sorry off topic)
Thanks for the comment . Dyspnea ,( the perception of ones own breathing discomfort) is an important topic for me ,as it effects my life profoundly.
I don’t think you have anything to worry about with asthmagirl.
“Under-perceivers” as we are called in the asthma research world, is a rare, but a very real and problematic phenomena for some asthmatics. Thankfully it affects mostly adult males who have had life long disease.
At the other end of the spectrum (and much more common) are ” over-perceivers” These individuals tend to be hypersensitive to even the mildest of symptoms, often panicking and over reacting which makes things feel worse.
The best tool available to help in either of these situations , is education and common sense ( I don’t always exhibit the latter). Action plans and subjective data ( ie PF meter) are a must .
In my case, I’ve learned to rely heavily on my peak flows to see if they correlate with how I feel at any given time. (I have one of those fancy electronic ones that uploads to a database so that they can track my trends.)
I check my PF’s 4-8 times a day, even if Im not having symptoms.
There are many times when I might feel tight for example, but my peak flows will be totally normal. ( This usually means I’m air trapping instead of having actual bronchospasm). There are other times that I’ll feel only slightly short of breath, but my peak flows will be in the red zone ( this means I having a full blown bronchospastic exacerbation). Time to go to the ER, if If I dont feel that bad.
This is not to say, that I have absolutely no awareness of my own symptoms, of course I do. I would have been dead by now If I didn’t. I’m fully aware when I’m SOB , its just that sometimes theres a delay in my brain processing the severity of my symptoms. And because of that delay , I don’t alway take the appropriate actions soon enough.
Im sure you’ve heard the adage from hardcore asthmatics…..” why did you wait so long to come to the ER?” The response is usually’ ..I didn’t think I was that bad, or …I thought it would get better. Well , thats what usually happens to me, only if I wait too long I end up on a ventilator for week.
(Confusing I know)
Good point, Allie–especially since people move more frequently and change doctors more than ever before.
Stephen, I wonder why males? Do you know?
Stubborn, macho, less compliant in taking meds ?
Just guessing.
This is an interesting article
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/420725