I didn’t see it in the article, but do we know how the database is populated? Is it by claims data, or are all the providers and facilities tied in electronically to this?
As a family doctor, I’m all for the consolidation of health records and for instant electronic access. What many people don’t realize are the steps necessary to get that information into the system. In the state I’m located, all data, except for labs, has to be entered manually into the database. This means that every diagnosis, imaging study, immunization, has to be entered by someone. It is a very time consuming process and is prone to error. What if the person entering the data makes a mistake with your diagnosis? A insurance company may not cover the patient because it might be determined that they have a pre-existing condition, that the patient really doesn’t have. EHR is definitely the future, and it should be, but I doubt that this new system will be answer to what everyone is looking for.