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April 29, 2009
Keeping personal electronic health records seen as fraught with limitations
As part of its Patient Money series, the New York Times (4/18, B6, Konrad) reported that there is "obvious appeal in the idea of an electronic file controlled by the patient" as that kind of "detailed record and seamless communication could improve the quality of healthcare and help reduce dangerous medical errors."
However, "in reality, very few doctors have set up their own electronic record-keeping systems." Moreover, building a "personal electronic medical file can be time-consuming and cumbersome."
For example, a "quick test drive" of the "most visible online health record keepers," such as Google Health Records, "made it clear" that consumers will "spend hours tracking down information" from providers and then "painstakingly entering the data" electronically. Hence, "with all these caveats in mind," The Times then provided consumers with "brief descriptions of four of the online health record systems now being offered, at no initial fee, to consumers who" still might want "to set up their own electronic medical files."
Posted by admin at April 29, 2009 05:34 PM