There has long been talk of converting medical records to electronic media and the advantages it will bring. Hospitals will be able to pull up a patient’s records instantly, saving time, minimizing errors, and ultimately saving money. There is currently a bill in Congress to address the issue, but problems in the wording of it have some having doubts about whether they’ll support it when it comes to a vote.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the current bill allows doctors to receive bonus Medicare payments if they use the electronic records in a ‘meaningful’ way. The problem is that there is no clear definition for the term ‘meaningful’ and there are concerns that it could open the door to fraud and Medicare abuse.
The $87 billion dollar bill allocates more Medicaid money to the states, but it doesn’t appear to hold the states accountable for ensuring the tax money is wisely spent. House Republicans recently voiced their concerns in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and many in the health care industry agree with them.
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.
There are pros and cons on both sides of the issue. If we don’t invest the necessary money in medical information technology, then we will continue to lag behind what our capabilities are. However if we progress in a shoddy fashion, we could lose billions of dollars and end up with a mess. We will continue to watch the situation closely.
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