The Future of Health IT
While the Obama Administration's electronic health records program offers incentives for doctors and hospitals using e-records, change is slow. Only 17 percent of the nation uses electronic records, Weiner said, comparing this statistic with the Defense's 100 percent use of electronic records. The health IT space, however, is at an exciting tipping point, he said.
Defense and VA, with roughly 150,000 outpatients a day, have built up an extensive data repository which allowed the two agencies to help the Food and Drug administration research a potential link between a diabetes medication and heart disease. With the influx of electronic data come privacy concerns. While Defense has the luxury of an exceptionally secure network, the average citizen still can't write a quick email to their doctors...
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VA & DoD Leading the Way Into the Future
For decades, both the VA and DoD have been leaders in the use of Health IT systems, e.g. EHR, PHR, HIE, etc. They are reaping the many benefits in improved quality care, operational efficiencies, patient safety, and more. Over time the rest of the health care community will follow suit. Even as health care providers and organizations across the country deploy these key systems, leaders in the industry are thinking about and working on Next Generation Health IT Systems - see http://www.openhealthnews.com/blogs/groenpj/2011-09-07/next-generation-h...