Most people agree that the conversion of medical records to electronic media is a good idea, but there are some who are wary of investing in the technology. The concept is attractive because it will allow hospitals and doctors to cut through red tape regarding patient care, saving millions of dollars. The unease lies in the specific wording used in a current bill sitting before Congress.
The current bill in Congress is said to allow doctors to get bonus payments from Medicare if they use electronic medical records in a ‘meaningful’ way. The term ‘meaningful’ is not defined at all however, and there is concern that this possible loophole could allow for Medicare abuse and fraud.
Recently House Minority Republicans sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, voicing their concerns about the $87 billion dollar bill. The bill sends Medicaid money to the states, but it doesn’t appear that the states are required to monitor the spending of the tax dollars in any way to assure there’s no waste.
The pessimism being expressed by Republicans and some health care professionals is not that surprising. The health care system today is broken, and everyone agrees with that. How best to fix it is at issue. There is concern among some that spending too much money too fast will allow the changes to progress in an inefficient and wasteful way.
Both sides have good arguments, and the issue does need to be address. If we spend money now on medical information technology with no oversight, then we will have wasted billions of dollars on a broken system that remains broken. However if we don’t invest the money, then we will still be behind technologically. We will continue to follow the issue as it works its way through the legislature.
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