Google Unveils Online Health Record Pilot Program - Additional Challenges and Opportunities
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Aside from the concerns I already listed in the second section of this article, Google will need to overcome substantial technical hurdles - and significant inertia on the part of some medical professionals. According to the Wall Street Journal, only 14 percent of medical practices store information electronically. That's abysmal, considering that the ability to create and share medical records electronically has been around for decades. In Germany, all medical records are digital; Denmark is nearly as good, with 90 percent, and our neighbor to the north has digitized half of its citizens' medical records. What's the holdup here?
In part, knowledge is power. "Hospitals and health-insurance companies worry that these computerized records will eat into their businesses. If a patient has easy access to his medical records, it makes it easier to see a different doctor," Worthen notes.
And in part, it really is inertia. The Baltimore Sun quoted David Merritt, director of the Center for Health Transformation as saying that "Health care is at least a generation behind the rest of society in terms of technology...Doctors and hospitals don't use the technology we take for granted everywhere else." Causes cited by the Sun include an inertia-filled system, a dearth of good software, a lack of incentives to adopt the new technology and no government leadership on the issue. That may be starting to change, however.
Interestingly, a number of congressmen have put their weight behind proposals to create technical standards for storing and transmitting information. The Republican candidate for president, and both currently-leading Democratic contenders, all back legislation to support broader use of health information technology. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.) also support such technology.
In particular, a bill sponsored by Kennedy and Markey bill would force Google, Microsoft, and other companies storing personal health profiles for patients to comply with HIPAA. This is actually a good thing. Patients usually have to agree to share their information in order to use the applications - but once they do that, they have no recourse. If the companies must comply with HIPAA, they face sanctions if they misuse the information.
If Google Health convinces our healthcare system to finally get its act together and digitize its records, it will be a welcome change. A number of studies, including this very long one from the Maryland Health Care Commission, have shown that electronic health records reduce medical errors, save lives and could save hundreds of billions of dollars if all doctors and hospitals used them. Say what you like about Google, but if we can find a safe way to negotiate the various issues of concern (security, privacy, HIPAA compliance, etc), five years from now we could be living in a safer and healthier future thanks to Google Health.
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