, law.
36 Part One Organizations, Management, and the Networked Enterprise
Are Electronic Medical Records a Cure for Health Care?
CASE STUDY
D
uring a typical trip to the doctor, you'll often see shelves full of folders and papers devoted to the storage of medical records. Everytime you visit, your records are created or modified, and often duplicate copies are generated throughout the course of a visit to the doctor or a hospital. The majority of medical records are currently paper-based, making these records very difficult to access and share. It has been said that the U.S. health care industry is the world's most ineffi­ cient information enterprise.
{inefficiencies in medical record keeping are one reason why health c costs the highest in the w dl reached $2.8 trillion, representing 18 percent of the
U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). Left unchecked, by 2037, health care costs will rise to 25 percent of GDP and consum,proximately 40 percent oftotal federal spending ce cal recordkeeping account for nearly 13 percent of U.S health care spending, improving medical recordkeep­ ing systems has been targeted as a major...E.;th to cost savings and even higher quality health carEnter electronic medical record (EMR) systems.
An electronic medical record system contains all of a person's vital medical data, including personal information, a full medical history, test results, diag­ noses, treatments, prescription medications, and the effect of those treatments. A physician would be able to immediately and directly access needed informa­ tion from the EMR without having to pore through paper files. If the record holder went to the hospital, the records and results of any tests performed at that point would be immediately available online. Having a complete set of patient information at their finger­ tips would help physicians prevent prescription drug interactions and avoid redundant tests. By analyz­ ing data extracted from electronic patient records, Southeast 'Thxas Medical Associates in Beaumont,
'Thxas, improved patient care, reduced complica­ tions, and slashed its hospital readmission rate by 22 percent in 2010.
Many experts believe that electronic records will reduce medical errors and improve care, create less paperwork, and provide quicker service, all of which will lead to dramatic savings in the future, as much as $80 billion per year. The U.S. government's short-term goal is for all health care providers in the United States to have EMR systems in place that meet a set ofbasic functional criteria by the year
2015. Its long-term goal is to have a fully functional nationwide electronic medical recordkeeping network. The consulting firm Accenture estimated that approximately 50 percent of U.S. hospitals are at risk of incurring penalties by 2015 for failing to meet federal requirements.
Evidence of EMR systems in use today suggests that these benefits are legitimate. But the challenges of setting up individual systems, let alone a nation­ wide system, are daunting. Many smaller medic practices are finding it difficult to afford the costs and time commitment to upgrading their record­ keeping systems. In 2011, 71 percent of physicians and 90 percent of hospitals in the United States were stj.ll using paper medical records. Less than 2 percent of U.S. hospitals had electronic medical record sys- · terns that were fully functional.
It's also unlikely that the many · ferent types ofEMR systems being developed and implemented right now will be compatible with one another in
2015 and beyond, jeopardizing the goal of a national system where all health care providers can share information. No nationwide softwa re standards..fur_ _ organizing andeXchanging meeiiZaJtion
.-_Qeen put in place. _!\nd there are many other small-er obstacles that health providers, health IT develop­ ers, and insurance companies will need to overcome for electronic health records to catch on