Registos electrónicos
A government-sponsored survey of the use of computerized patient records by physicians points to two seemingly contradictory conclusions, and a health care system at odds with itself.(artigo completo: link )
The report, published online on Wednesday in the NEJM (pdf: link), found that doctors who use electronic health records say overwhelmingly that they have helped improve the quality and timeliness of care. Yet fewer than one in five of the nation’s physicians have started using such records.
Bringing patient records into the computer age, experts say, is crucial to improving care, reducing errors and containing costs in the American health care system. The bottleneck to the adoption of the technology is mainly economic. Most doctors in private practice, especially those in small practices, lack the financial incentive to invest in computerized records.
Private and government insurers and hospitals can save money as a result of less paper handling, lower administration expenses and fewer unnecessary lab tests when they are connected to electronic health records in physicians’ offices. Still, it is mainly doctors who bear the burden making the initial investment.
The results, they say, also show a strong endorsement of electronic health records by physicians who have them, especially for what the report termed “fully functional” records, which include features like warnings of drug interactions and reminders of care guidelines, based on a patient’s age, gender or medical history.
For example, 82 percent of those using such electronic records said they improved the quality of clinical decisions, 86 percent said they helped in avoiding medication errors and 85 percent said they improved the delivery of preventative care. ...
The report, published online on Wednesday in the NEJM (pdf: link), found that doctors who use electronic health records say overwhelmingly that they have helped improve the quality and timeliness of care. Yet fewer than one in five of the nation’s physicians have started using such records.
Bringing patient records into the computer age, experts say, is crucial to improving care, reducing errors and containing costs in the American health care system. The bottleneck to the adoption of the technology is mainly economic. Most doctors in private practice, especially those in small practices, lack the financial incentive to invest in computerized records.
Private and government insurers and hospitals can save money as a result of less paper handling, lower administration expenses and fewer unnecessary lab tests when they are connected to electronic health records in physicians’ offices. Still, it is mainly doctors who bear the burden making the initial investment.
The results, they say, also show a strong endorsement of electronic health records by physicians who have them, especially for what the report termed “fully functional” records, which include features like warnings of drug interactions and reminders of care guidelines, based on a patient’s age, gender or medical history.
For example, 82 percent of those using such electronic records said they improved the quality of clinical decisions, 86 percent said they helped in avoiding medication errors and 85 percent said they improved the delivery of preventative care. ...
NYTimes 18.06.08
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