501derful.org
We’ve been having a little background discussion among FICenter people of how the ACS might support the electronic health records (EHR) movement. Here’s a little hiccup we haven’t tackled: the cost. It’s really big, according to a recent study, and it may not be the panacea some hope for.
Billions and billions of dollars for healthcare providers will be necessary to drive widespread adoption of electronic health records over the next decade, new research suggests.
Even so, without national standards for EHR technical capabilities and metrics for usage, all that money will do little toward reaching the greater goal of building an interoperable national health information infrastructure, according to a new report from Connecting for Health, a public-private effort to accelerate adoption of IT in healthcare.
That’s from a HealthIT World article.
If looked as an add on it will be costly but if it leads to more appropriate treatment, better compliance, improved quality control and enhanced epidemiology it could cut overall costs significantly.
You’re right. But what got my attention was the part about needing national standards to make any nationwide EHR system workable. That’s why I think, no matter how tempting a system looks, the ACS should withhold support unless it is committed to meet national standards.