DIGITAL HEALTH RECORDS - Huffington Post Investigative Fund

Effort to Track Medical Safety Issues Faces Long Road Ahead

Fred Schulte — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:23:42 +0000

Panel Seeks Centralized Data on Hazards Related to Digital Systems

Despite mounting concern over safety risks posed by digital medical records systems, government officials are years away from starting to track hazards stemming from use of the devices.

A federal advisory panel wants to create the first national database of medical software malfunctions and problems as a part of the Obama administration’s drive to spend billions of dollars in economic stimulus money helping doctors and hospitals adopt the technology. Read more »

As Health Files Go Digital, Patients May Spot Unpleasant Surprises

Fred Schulte — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:26:17 +0000

Sensitive Questions Arise About Access to Online Medical Data

When Kaiser Permanente started giving patients online access to their medical records nearly five years ago, it offered the same lab reports doctors saw—complete with warning flags highlighting any abnormal results.

The capital letters – such as “H” for “high” -- alarmed many patients. So now the giant health plan has modified the policy for most of its members. It displays lab results in a more neutral way, showing patients how they compare to normal ranges and advising them to contact their health practitioner with any questions. Read more »

Electronic Health Records Probe Expands to Hospitals

Fred Schulte — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:33:52 +0000

Grassley Inquiry Seeks Details on Possible Flaws with Software

A congressional inquiry into plans for spending billions of dollars in stimulus money on digital medical records is now questioning some of the nation’s most prestigious health care providers about possible safety flaws and other problems with the electronic systems. Read more »

Switch to Electronic Health Records Could Miss Federal Targets

Fred Schulte — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:04:40 +0000

Cut in Stimulus Spending Suggests Early Estimates Too Optimistic

Federal health officials said Wednesday they have cut billions of dollars from the projected cost of a program to push doctors and hospitals to use electronic medical records, suggesting their previous estimates overstated the number of health care providers likely to adopt the technology.

The goal to create a digital health record for every American in the next five years was first set under President George W. Bush. The project picked up steam in the Obama administration, which regards it as vital to controlling soaring health care costs. Read more »

Daschle Had Public and Private Role in Push for Digital Health Records

Fred Schulte — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:11:32 +0000

In the government’s campaign to bring medical care into the digital age, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle has served as a key advisor to President Obama and a consultant to the health-care industry—doing both within the space of a few months.

Daschle, as Obama’s first choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services last year, was a forceful advocate for using billions of dollars in economic stimulus money to help doctors and hospitals buy electronic medical records systems. Read more »

Can Cleveland Clinic Be a Model for Digital Medicine?

Emma Schwartz — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:50:36 +0000

Hospital’s Success With Electronic Records Raises Hope and Caution

CLEVELAND—When Albert Giuliani wakes up each morning, he steps on a scale, takes his blood pressure and pricks his finger to test his sugar levels. Though he’s lived with diabetes and hypertension for decades, he no longer has to bother with pen and paper. The results are automatically uploaded to an electronic record that he and his doctor at the Cleveland Clinic can check anytime. Read more »

Switch to Electronic Records Getting Mixed Reviews at Hospitals and Clinics

Fred Schulte — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:00:18 +0000

Scattered Reports of Software Glitches That Caused Risk to Patients

More than five years ago, one of California’s leading hospitals decided to leap into the future of medical care by digitizing its patients’ health records. Despite a $50 million investment and countless hours trying to overcome persistent technical headaches, the system is still not fully up and running.

This summer, the University of California San Francisco Medical Center quietly wrote off more than a third of the money it has spent, terminated its contractor and prepared to start part of the project from scratch. Read more »

Survey: Hospitals Not Protecting Electronic Health Records

Fred Schulte — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:25:23 +0000

One-Third of Institutions Acknowledge Cases of Medical Identity Theft

Despite new federal laws to protect the privacy of medical files, many hospitals are ill-prepared to prevent security breaches that may result in patient records being stolen, lost or misused, a new survey shows.

Three in four hospitals and health organizations said medical records of patients had been put at risk of improper disclosure “due to inadequate security controls, policies or procedures,” according to the survey released Thursday at a meeting of government health information planners in Washington. Read more »

Health Industry Winning Round on Privacy of Digital Health Records

Emma Schwartz — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:02:23 +0000

Regulators Limit When Patients Must Learn of a Breach

Lobbyists for the health industry are close to a victory over consumer groups in a dispute about when patients should be told their digital medical records have been lost, stolen or mishandled. Read more »

Stimulus Fuels Gold Rush For Electronic Health Systems

Fred Schulte — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:29:06 +0000

Competition Among Companies Spawns Bus Tour, Creative Sales Techniques

The government’s $45 billion plan to jump-start a national shift to electronic medical records has touched off a gold rush among scores of technology firms – even as many experts question whether the benefits of the products are being oversold. Read more »

Government Pushes to Create a New Health Internet

Fred Schulte — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:16:21 +0000

Officials Hope Millions Will Put Their Medical Records Online

Hoping to provide the backbone for a grand plan to put the nation’s medical records online, federal officials have been quietly retooling an obscure government data-sharing service into a robust new Health Internet.

The concept has drawn intense interest from technology firms, including Microsoft and Google, which are scrambling to find new—and profitable—uses for digital medical records and the cyber health-care services they are starting to spawn. Read more »

Fuzzy Math? Rising Costs in Government's Digital Health Stimulus

Fred Schulte — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:01:03 +0000

Spending Could Be Double The Obama Administration's Public Estimate of $19 Billion

Creating digital medical records for every American within the next five years – a key provision of President Obama’s stimulus package -- could cost more than twice the $19.5 billion figure that has been cited by federal officials.

Federal budget documents show that actual spending for the plan, which will use stimulus money to help doctors and hospitals defray the cost of installing high-tech records systems, could hit nearly $47 billion. Read more »