A comprehensive system of electronic medical records promises to save lives and cut health care costs—but how do you build one?
From the article:
With your medical records in paper form and scattered across the offices of various practitioners, the people treating you when you need those records most—when you’re lying on a gurney in the emergency room, say—may have no idea what to do. Sometimes they do the wrong thing: in the United States alone, an estimated 98 000 deaths occur annually from medical mistakes, and 1.5 million people suffer from adverse drug interactions, incorrect doses, and other medication errors. Many of these deaths and injuries could be avoided if the full medical records of patients were available to their treating physicians.
After a history of false starts, a comprehensive system of electronic health records linking hospitals, general practitioners, specialists, insurance offices, and others could debut in the United States within a decade. Other countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, and the United Kingdom, have also announced national programs to automate medical records [see table, “Major Players”]. Of these, Finland is likely to be first, with a planned launch by the end of next year. Meanwhile, the UK has been struggling to roll out its digital health record system for more than four years, with little to show for its efforts.
The FreePint Family is a family of resources to help information workers be more effective, raise the value of information in their organisations and contribute to success.
'FreePint... provides most of my professional development because it won't come through work and [other resources] just don't cut it.'
FUMSI Forum: Do you have a research question? Post it to the FUMSI Forum, where professionals share Q&A and useful tips on how to Find, Use, Manage and Share Information. It's free.
FreePint Shop:
VIP LiveWire:
