ALBANY, N.Y., July 15 (UPI) -- Part 1 of 2. U.S. healthcare is the most expensive in the world and one reason is most hospitals and physicians are still using paper and files to keep medical records.
Although almost every aspect of modern life has become digitized, the healthcare industry has lagged behind and this situation has become costly, in terms of both money and lives.
"Conservatively, when fully implemented an electronic healthcare system of medical records and communications could save $78 billion a year -- that's a conservative estimate -- of the $1.3 trillion U.S. healthcare costs," Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I. told United Press International. "Computerized medical records would save nearly 100,000 lives a year due to preventable medical errors."
About 30 cents of every healthcare dollar is spent on redundant testing, copying, coding and filing, requiring an average of four attendants for every doctor, Kennedy said.
"It's much more than an economic issue," he continued. "Putting people through redundant tests because one hospital doesn't have access to the lab work done by a doctor a week ago -- there's a human toll from this type of waste.
Kennedy Rhode Island "will soon have doctors send prescriptions to stores via e-mail -- it should help in cut errors in medication from pharmacists not being able to read a doctors handwriting."
For example, a study by the Institute of Medicine -- part of the National Academy of Sciences -- in 1999 found one hospital with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs had cut overall medication error rates by 70 percent using hand-held, wireless computer technology and bar-coding.
By and large, the medical system -- an estimated 85 percent of hospitals and doctors -- still use paper documents and copies. Each sheet of paper can be misfiled, sent to the wrong office or lost. Larger hospitals already have begun to go digital, but the vast majority of physicians have not -- and doctors hold most medical records.
Elaine O'Bleness, regional director of Health Information Services for four Colorado hospitals that use computerized health care records, described a time she had been scheduled for surgery. In a pre-op visit to her personal physician, who still uses paper files, the nurse practitioner reviewed her chart and said her blood work indicated diabetes, high triglycerides and good cholesterol levels.
"I knew the lab results were wrong, O'Bleness told UPI. "Someone had filed someone's else's paper document in my chart. I spoke up because I knew they were wrong and imagine the consequences if I had."
She said the IT system in her hospitals "uses Optio QuickRecord Suite that stores clinical documents and discrete data, including lab, radiology, pathology and transcribed records."
To retrieve a medical record manually -- as well as make copies, fax or deliver the copies -- can take from 15 minutes to just under an hour from start to finish. Multiply that by the hundreds of record requests that occur every day at $15 an hour -- the approximate cost of the employee with salary and benefits -- and it adds up, O'Bleness said.
Despite the many benefits, there remains resistance to incorporating computers in the healthcare industry that include: the medical culture, privacy issues, the capital cost of setting up the system, the time intensity for doctors and concerns that IT systems will be able to interact among different facilities.
Kennedy has introduced the first bill to address medical records IT issues, The 21st Century Health Information Act (H.R. 2234), that would help replace the current paperwork system with secure, confidential electronic health information networks.
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Next: The challenges of adopting electronic health records
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Alex Cukan covers health and medical issues for UPI Science News. E-mail: [email protected]
