Telehealth Monitor

THE Obama administration’s plan to spend $19 billion on electronic medical records has generated so much buzz you might think it was the biggest thing in health care since penicillin.

“We’ve got a long way to go” before digital health files are widespread, said Dr. Ashish Jha, an associate professor at Harvard who has been involved in several studies on such records.

But while policy makers, hospitals, doctors and technology companies debate the best ways to give every health care provider computer access to patient records, patients can’t help but wonder: What’s in this for me?

There is obvious appeal in the idea of an electronic file controlled by the patient but accessible with his or her permission by doctors, hospitals and insurers — a file that could be continually updated with all new medical procedures, prescriptions and tests. That kind of detailed record and seamless communication could improve the quality of health care and help reduce dangerous medical errors. And by improving the efficiency of medicine, it might also help curb the nation’s skyrocketing health care costs.

Lured by such promises, 4 of every 10 consumers are interested in creating an online personal health record that can be shared with physicians, according to a recent survey conducted by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.

via Patient Money – Some Caveats About Personal Digital Health Records – NYTimes.com.