Getting Electronic Health Record Standards Right
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On January 20, a new show opened in Washington D.C. After eight years under one administration, the curtain cascaded down on one set of policies, and a moment later rose to unveil a new administration, with new ideas, new priorities, and a new agenda. Included in that agenda is a commitment to embark on a five year quest to dramatically decrease the cost of healthcare — by investing as much as $50 billion dollars of public funds in the design and deployment of something called "electronic health records," or EHRs. Readers of this Blog, but not the public at large, will be immediately aware that the foundation for the EHR vision is standards.
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As of this writing, $20 billion of that amount is included in the current House draft of the Economic Stimulus bill called for by the new administration. The full cost of EHR implementation, including private expenditures, has been estimated to be $156 billion over five years, not including $20 billion in operational costs. With such a price tag, the promise of EHRs had best be realized, or the new administration will have some significant explaining to do. Full Story |
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