An ambitious proposal from the Obama administration seeks to provide an electronic health record (EHR) for all Americans by 2014. It’s a proposal with far-reaching implications for anyone who receives professional health care, and it has both supporters and detractors.

The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (the “economic stimulus plan”) that became law in February contains a section called the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH Act. It makes available more than $17 billion in financial incentives for physicians and hospitals to adopt and use EHR.

The goal of HITECH is to both save costs and create a continuum of health care data for all patients representing a lifelong record, updated as needed by a

Electronic Health
Records For All:

Panacea or pandemonium?

By Bill Norman

wide range of people and organizations.

Although central to the health care debate, EHRs are neither well developed nor well understood. An Arizona State University poll taken in June 2009 found that 15 percent of responders said they

had heard “a lot” about EHRs; 49 percent had heard “some” or “only a little”; and 36 percent said they’d heard “nothing at all.”

Here then is Quest’s attempt to shed a little more light on the subject.

What’s an EHR?

Electronic health record, or EHR, is an all-encompassing term that refers to all types of medical records, but also connotes the electronic sharing of medical information among patients, health care providers and payers (i.e., insurance or government agencies).

•;EMRs;(electronic;medical;records);fall;under;the;EHR;umbrella.;These;legal;records;are;used;by;physicians;to;document;all patient information, such as test results, treatments, medications.

•;PHRs;(personal;health;records);also;are;EHRs.;These;are;electronic;records;created;by;and;accessible;to;the;patients;them-
selves.;Data;storage;systems;like;Google;Health;and;Microsoft’s;HealthVault;allow
patients;to;create;PHRs;and;make;them;available;to;doctors;and;others;they
approve.;But;the;PHR;systems;don’t;“talk”;to;each;other;or;other;comparable;data
storage;programs;such;as;RevolutionHealth;or;WebMD.

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