Bill of Health - Paper vs. Technology
Thursday, February 02, 2006SUSIE GHARIB: These days, it seems just about every industry has gone digital, every industry but one, that is. The medical industry is still behind the curve, with most doctors` offices and hospitals still relying on paper instead of electronics, for patient records. In tonight`s "Bill of Health" report, Jeff Yastine says that situation is now changing, but changing slowly.
JEFF YASTINE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: The problem is getting hospitals and doctors to spend the money. By some estimates, it costs a medical practice about $50,000 per physician, to set up all the computers and software necessary to create a fully digital practice. With numbers like that, it`s no wonder it`s taking a long time for healthcare practitioners to get online. Computers have long been used for billing and scheduling, but using them to easily store, update, and access patient health information lags far behind. A 2005 study found only about one-third of hospital emergency departments and 17 percent of doctors offices, have electronic medical records to support patient care. But hospitals and practices are slowly loosening their purse strings. A Data Monitor survey estimates a 7.5 percent annual growth rate in spending on healthcare information technology, to nearly $40 billion by 2008. One of the industry`s problems is that medical software systems, sold by different companies, can`t talk to each other. The Federal government is prodding the industry to change that, a move that would help doctors and patients.
DIANE BRADLEY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, ECLIPSYS: So you have Federal initiatives that focus on interoperability, so making sure that the data that is collected by your family practice doctor is available to the emergency room physician, is available when you`re admitted for your surgery, so that focus is something that we`re seeing pushing the adoption.
YASTINE: Hospitals have also been reluctant to spend on IT because, until now, there`s no proof they`ll get any return on their investment. That too, is beginning to change.
BRADLEY: What has made adoption and selling of complex electronic health record software easier is the early adopters, our current customers are starting to document outcomes. So not only are they seeing things legible handwriting, illegible handwriting go away, but now they`re starting to see savings in paper costs, in printing.
DR. MANUEL DIAZ, HOSPITALIST, DOCTORS HOSPITAL MIAMI: Prior to the computer became widespread in the hospital, we had to rely on paper records and these things needed to be hunted down by the nursing staff, by the clerks on the floors and at the nursing stations and that was a time consuming process. Oftentimes, paper records get lost or they get shuffled. It takes a while to access them, to read them.
YASTINE: So the conversion from paper medical records to electronic ones is on. But experts say it`ll take 10 to 15 years before the majority of hospitals and medical practices make the conversion. Jeff Yastine, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Miami.
