I'm sure this will soon become a passionate topic of discussion.
Five of the nation's largest employers plan to soon give their workers a unique health care benefit — their very own electronic medical record that they can take when they travel, change jobs or see a new doctor.
Anyone seen Pandora's storage container?
The issues here are pretty obvious.
About 2.5 million workers and their dependents would have access to their health records through their computer. The records will be compiled by an independent, nonprofit organization. The information will be stored in a database that only the employee is supposed to be able to access.
The article writer is already hinting at it by using the phrase "supposed to be". The personal security argument is the next car in this train.
However,...nearly 1,000 people interviewed for the survey said they are worried that the information will get into the wrong hands. About 80 percent said they were concerned about identify theft, and about the same percentage were worried about the information going to marketers.
In many ways this makes sense.
A survey conducted last month indicated that Americans like the idea of using electronic health records. For example, nearly nine in 10 respondents said online records would be important in reducing the number of unnecessary tests and procedures they undergo. Two-thirds were interested in accessing their records online.
Companies like the idea too.
...companies hope that cutting out the paperwork in health care would reduce administrative costs, duplicative care and medical errors.
"It should make the health care process simpler, more straightforward, more cost-effective," said Intel Chairman Craig Barrett.
Think of it kind of like a credit report for your family's health history.
Officials say that the Omnimedix Institute of Portland, Ore., will maintain the health records. Omnimedix will gather the information from insurers, pharmacies, doctors and other health care providers. Patients will be able to update the record also with such things as their family's history of illness.
My biggest concern is that politicians want to get involved. That's a great way to slow things down and make them more expensive. What's the point then.
This year, Congress could not agree on legislation that would speed up the use of electronic record keeping.
Big shock.
Part of the disagreement is on the role the government should play in paying for electronic health records.
So, it looks like the cat's out of the bag. The squabble now is who's going to take care of it.
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