Your Medical Records Online:
The Promises and Pitfalls

Saturday, February 20, 2010

The federal government has set a goal for every American to have an electronic health record by 2014. Many support investing in digital record keeping with the expectation that this will boost the quality of medical care and cut waste. Others contend that a digital transition will be costly and that ensuring the privacy of patients’ records will be difficult. Who will benefit? Who will pay? And what are the dangers inherent in the digitalization? How can the security of personal data be protected, regulated and monitored?

A panel of experts discussed the technical, societal and ethical dimensions of this timely issue.

Conan Nolan—moderator

Claire Pomeroy, M.D., M.B.A.

Paul Tang, M.D., M.S.

Nadereh Pourat, Ph.D.

Steven R. Smith, J.D., M.A.

Books

• Implementing an Electronic Medical Record System: Successes, Failtures, Lessons by Tim Scott
• Biomedical Informatics: Computer Applications in Health Care and Biomedicine (Health Informatics) by Edward H. Shortliffe
• Health Information Management: Integrating Information and Communication Technology in Health Care Work (Routledge Health Management) by Marc Berg

Useful Links

• The California Regional Health Information Organization
• Learn about Electronic Health Records with UC Davis Extension

Articles

• Unboxed. How to Make Electronic Medical Records a Reality. By Steve Lohr, The New York Times. February 28, 2009.
• Electronic health records raise doubt. Google service's inaccuracies may hold wide lesson. By Lisa Wangsness, Boston Globe. April 13, 2009.
• An Affordable Fix for Modernizing Medical Records. By Laura Landro, The Wall Street Journal. April 30, 2009.
• Push for digital health records sparks debate. By Miami hall, USA TODAY. 4/7/2009.
• Are Electronic Medical Records The Future? Electronic Records Could Reduce Medical Mistakes, But Not All Doctors Are Ready To Pay For It. By Wyatt Andrews, CBS Evening News. May 19, 2009.
• Health care experts warn of challenges for IT adoption. By Stephanie Condon, CNET news. March 18, 2009.
• Dragging health records into the Digital Age. By Ina Fried, CNET news. May 18, 2009.
• What you need to know about e-health records. By Declan McCullagh, CNET news. May 19, 2009.
• Why are doctors such Luddites? By Charles Cooper, CNET News. May 20, 2009.

Scholarly Journal Articles

• Electronic Health Records Are Associated with Higher Quality in Primary Care Practices by RAND Corporation research brief series. 2009.
• Use of Electronic Health Records in U.S. Hospitals. Ashish K. Jha et al. The New England Journal of Medicine. Vol.: 360:1628-1638. No 16. April 16, 2009.
• Identity Crisis? Approaches to Patient Identification in a National Health Information Network by Richard Hillestad et al. RAND Corporation research brief series. 2008.
• A National Health Information Network -- What Are the Real Privacy Issues? By Michael D. Greenberg and M. Susan Ridgely. RAND Corporation research brief series. 2008.