Electronic Health Records and Healthcare Reform

"An electronic medical record is a digital and portable version of the current paper file system that would be accessible to all doctors. That means that whenever you see a new physician, you could stop filling out endless paper forms, as your doctor could access everything about you on the computer." (www.webmd.com) This will save money since it will prevent unneccessary, repeat tests, and reducing the time required to make an accurate diagnosis. "The urgency of electronic healthcare record conversion was evident when President Obama addressed the American Medical Association (AMA) in June of 2009 when he said, “First, we need to upgrade our medical records by switching from a paper to an electronic system of record keeping. And we have already begun to do this with an investment we made as part of our Recovery Act.” (www.ehrinstitute.org) The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health, or HITECH, act of 2009 set aside $27 billion from the federal government for incentives to encourage hospitals and providers to convert to electronic health records systems (EHR). It also put aside money for training health information technology (HIT) workers, and “assist hospitals and providers in setting up EHRs that would enable the health data historically sequestered in paper files to be shared among providers and used to improve health care quality.” (www.commonwealthfund.org) Medicare and Medicaid providers who do not switch to an electronic system by 2015 will receive reduced payments. "This was seen as vital for overcoming the massive number of problems fostered by paper medical records, which ranged from the mildly inconvenient to the potentially fatal. " (www.thinkprogress.org) "New findings confirm that electronic health records deliver benefits for patients and physicians."