Thought Leaders

The EMR horse is out of the stable and galloping full speed ahead, and it could race right over the industry if we don’t take a hard look at the current EMR software model presently being offered to providers.

The media is awash with commentary from government and private sector industry chieftains expressing their shock that healthcare has not adopted technology for electronic healthcare records (EHR). It appears incomprehensible that the same technology solutions that make corporate America efficient and productive are not being adopted quickly in healthcare.

What type of organization could design and implement a reliable, secure and interoperable nationwide healthcare information network (NHIN), which would allow critical medical data to be shared seamlessly and in a timely manner, while ensuring equal access to all ranges of healthcare providers?

Healthcare is a topic fraught with sensitive issues, beginning with privacy, liability and growing costs, which then lead to equally controversial fixes such as HIPAA, malpractice insurance reforms and health savings accounts (HSAs). The lobbyists battle on the Hill, and Newt Gingrich preaches from his Center for Health Transformation, but everyone, including President Bush himself, seems to agree on one thing: The patient needs to be at the center of healthcare. As envisioned by the National Economic Council, "In an ideal system, Americans would be able to choose their healthcare based on their individual needs and preferences."

For the February 2002 issue of Health Management Technology, I authored a Thought Leaders column entitled, "Write Offs: Doing It Right The First Time"–and received an outpouring of responses from a wide variety of healthcare providers.

As 2005 marked the 40th anniversary of Medicaid, policy makers and politicians alike told us the program is unsustainable. In 2004, Medicaid consumed 25 percent of states' budgets, and costs were expected to rise 12 percent by the end of 2005. Why? The current Medicaid system is riddled with inefficiencies; it fails to provide consistently high quality healthcare because of medical errors, poor communication, incomplete records and rising insurance costs.