Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Medical Care Shifting to Electronic Data


Conaboy, Chelsea. "Medical Care Shifting to Electronic Data." The Boston Globe, April 30, 2012.


From the article: "One in 10 doctors who work outside hospitals in the United States began using electronic health records in 2011, helped along by the promise of $27 billion in incentives from the federal government.

As of the end of last year, 35 percent of such doctors had a system that performed at least basic functions, including ordering of prescriptions and storing doctor notes and test results, according to one in a series of studies on the topic published in the latest issue of the journal Health Affairs.

The technology is spreading, the result of years of fierce, well-funded advocacy aimed at soothing doctors’ concerns about the hassle and cost of the systems. To date, $146 million in incentive payments have been distributed to doctors and hospitals in the state to help pay for installation, training, and upkeep, according to Bridget Scrimenti, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts eHealth Institute, part of an independent state agency working on the issue.

Now, some involved in health information technology say it is time to focus more attention on making sure the systems are safe."  Read more

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