File Under ‘Hodgepodge’

You made no mention of VISTA, the medical records system used by the Department of Veteran's Affairs. VISTA is an `in-house' invention of the VA, begun in the late 1970s. VISTA is now used by the entire VA for all medical purposes within the VA, and also some organizations that interact with the VA. The amazing thing about VISTA is this: VISTA is `open source', accessible to anyone. There is a book describing VISTA titled "Best Care Anywhere", by Phillip Longman, PoliPoint Books, www.p3books.com. The book tells where VISTA can be `downloaded' from a VA server. The VA also maintains a `dummy' VISTA system that interested people can try out. There is no chance a `comprehensive medical records system' needs to be designed `from the ground up' --- that has already been done. I do not suggest that VISTA, the way it is, is suitable for all needs of all people. Instead, I am certain VISTA can be enhanced, and perhaps even modified slightly to become 'all things for all people' --- literally --- at least for things medical. The great beauty of open source software, such as VISTA, is that anyone can make improvements, and the results are available to everyone. Proper software administration makes it impossible for unauthorized software to be used --- whether it is open source or otherwise.

If the people who have these jobs did them right, there would not be any problem. They are the problem. It does'nt matter what the job, doing it right even if boring, repititious, it's not about you being "fulfilled" or anthing. It's the job, do it!
Insurence companies thwart any changes in the medical industry. See, it'a an "induatry", not a caring, focused instrument of health care. It's only about making money, your's, of course, and the more the better. But, dont worry, Oboyamas new and improved system willtake car of everything, right?

Electronic Medical Records are a good goal if certain issues could be worked out; key of these issues is confidentiality and security. The current paper system is not the hallmark of security either, not with some clinics just dumping paper records because they don???t want to pay to properly dispose of them. The law states these records must be kept for a number of years, seven for behavioral health records. This can take up quite a bit of space if you are a busy practice. A good first step would be to support an initiative for doctors??? offices to at least digitalize their current records. It would save office space, and allow the doctors to have notes inputted on these digitalize charts. They could have the electronic charts organized in such a way that client???s records could be easily found and shared with other providers who have releases to obtain the information contained in them. Nothing is as annoying to me, a behavioral health provider, as when a physician sends me a client???s record and it is several sheets of illegible scribbles. I have even had a physician send me a 30 page patient record with a bill for a dollar a page. If the record was sent electronically, through fax or e-mail I could just look at and print the pages that were pertinent to me and just delete the rest. As it is the doctor wasted time copying, wasted product; ink and paper in the printing, and money in mailing the 30 pages to me. Lets just get doctor???s to get to the point of computerizing their patient charts first then we could talk about a full campaign for electronic records.

Given the inability of government agencies and the private sector to protect critical information in the past, this would be a disaster waiting to happen. This would become THE target for hackers across the world.

Additionally, this would open the door for illegal access to records by insiders which can profit from this. Once you digitize this information it's hard to control who gets to see it in the real world.

We already have a vehicle in place to encourage the usage of electronic records; Medicare and Medicaid. By requiring those agencys to only accept electronic records physicians would have to be able to interface with them. Even if different software were to be used by individuals, by having a designated single interface they should be able to talk with each other. Mandating all federal interactions to be digitized is within the ability of the administration and congress. The "trickle-down" effect would encourage software development by many different companies and create more jobs.

We already have a vehicle in place to encourage the usage of electronic records; Medicare and Medicaid. By requiring those agencys to only accept electronic records physicians would have to be able to interface with them. Even if different software were to be used by individuals, by having a designated single interface they should be able to talk with each other. Mandating all federal interactions to be digitized is within the ability of the administration and congress. The "trickle-down" effect would encourage software development by many different companies and create more jobs.

My wife's father lives in ontario, canada. If you knew what he has gone through with regard to his cancer diagnosis and treatment you would NEVER consider universal healthcare. You people who in theory think it's right have no idea. He will be dead soon solely as a result of the canada healthcare system. I'll save you the time line of events, but the last thing you would ever want is to be ill and in this system. It's completely irresponsible to promote this system. Do your homework.

http://www.britannica.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/caduceus.jpg

Watch PBS: Frontline titled...

"Sick In America"

It Exposes the Crisis, The Private Health Insurance Nightmare and the High Cost to Americans.

This is the Reason why we need [Universal Health Care]


PPO's, HMO's and all the Rest could Care Less about You, no Matter the Race, Economic Strata or Political Persuasion

Joe {The Un-Licensed] plumber has Quit the [GOP]

Stop the presses... (even though we haven't received the press release yet). Time Magazine is reporting - burying rather - the news that Joe the Plumber, also known as Samuel Wurzelbacher, is quitting the GOP. That's big news considering Joe became the new GOP mascot during the McCain campaign and has since advised the party during conferences and in Capitol Hill briefings.

Below is the excerpt from the Time article.

Well, more elections. Big Government is never popular in theory, but the disaster aid, school lunches and prescription drugs that make up Big Government have become wildly popular in practice, especially now that so many people are hurting. Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, tells TIME he's so outraged by GOP overspending, he's quitting the party -- and he's the bull's-eye of its target audience. But he also said he wouldn't support any cuts in defense, Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid -- which, along with debt payments, would put more than two-thirds of the budget off limits. It's no coincidence that many Republicans who voted against the stimulus have claimed credit for stimulus projects in their district -- or that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal stopped ridiculing volcano-monitoring programs after a volcano erupted in Alaska. "We can't be the antigovernment party," Snowe says. "That's not what people want."

it was amusing that the article is accompanied by a picture of a "VA fileroom" , since, as the other commenter have mentioned, the VA has had an outstanding medical record since 1998! Full disclosure, i work for the VA. We are very proud of our medical record and do indeed give away the code for free. I would suggest that everyone google VA CPRS (computerized paitent record system), review the articles and then start emailing your representatives.

Let's all use the VA electronic medical record! It is free (your tax dollars already paid for it), it has been in existance longer than any other comprehensive electronic medical record in this country (since 1996), it is routinely upgraded and the electronic bugs have been worked out, and a huge number of health care workers have already been exposed to it (the VA is the largest health care system in the world following the collapse of the USSR), it contains all of the above items (doctors notes, patient lab values - even graphically display them against medication use - Xray scan/CT/MRI/Radiologic exams, allows for the ability to up load information from home into the records, easy transfer of medications from outpatient to inpateint care (so no one has to bring in bottle or list of meds on peieces of paper, etc, etc, etc. The $19B in the federal stimulus package will not go very far (it cost one organization well over $2B alone) if the software program is not made well know and promoted to all. Believe me - if you allow the free-market to each develop their own computer programs - they will NOT interconnect as planned and you will be left will individual electronis records that do NOT communicate with each other. The VA system should be in ALL community pharmacies, hospitals, doctors offices, rediology facilities, nursing homes, and all other health care service areas. Let use our tax payer dollars wisely with a system that has been in place and the bug have been worked out ...

Eric Cantor: Cannot Come Up with an Alternative [GOP Health Plan] Watch Him Ramble & Babble On...
-----------------------------------------

Many Media Monitors recommended this clip from this Morning's edition of Morning Joe. Eric Cantor, asked by Carlos Watson if it might be a good idea for the GOP to partner with the White House on a "big initiative," like health care. Cantor allowed that while it's important for everyone to recognize that any individual without access to health care is facing "a crisis," he "drew the line" at any sort of government "takeover" of the health care system. So, what did he favor? Mike Barnicle attempted to suss this out with a very well formulated question.

MIKE BARNICLE: You just raised the issue of health care. We live in the only civilized nation in the world, where if ... your child gets sick with a really terrible illness, you might find yourself in bankruptcy court in order to pay the bills. So, without the pretty language, without the big words, can you tell me: what's your health plan, what's it going to cost, how are you going to get it done, how can you work with the Democrats in concocting ... in coming up with a health plan that works for everyone?


CANTOR: First of all, let me just go in here and address the assumption here in the discussion. We also have a health care system that, in reality, if you are sick anywhere in this world and you can afford it, you can come here for your care because we do have access to the best care, but you're right, there are too many people who don't have access to that care, so what we need to do is to be able to address -- number one -- the coverage and access to insurance, and number two, to be able to demonstrate that we can bring down cost. Now this notion that we are somehow going to allow the government to take over providing the care because that's going to address the cost factor, is just a false start. You can't assume that this place in Washington is going to do things efficiently. What we do know is that we need to promote the ability for people to -- number one -- if they lose their job, they don't necessarily lose their health care -- number two -- if they are sick and they have a pre-existing condition, we must allow for them to access affordable coverage, because that's a huge issue right now, how people can access coverage when they are sick, and that has to do with expanding the risk pools, giving people the ability to access much more affordable coverage. Right now, we are so tied to a third-party payer system that, you know, people are at a whim cut off from access to care. so we've got to go back to centering our focus on patient/doctor relationships.

Anyway, beyond these admissions, Cantor really doesn't have the plain-language proposal Barnicle wants to hear, and he doesn't even come close to addressing the issue he raises -- why a parent with a sick child should have to go into debt or end up in bank

Seems to me that no one much has paid attention to this, but NO the MEDICAL RECORDS do not need to be put online for any hacker or whoever to have access too. I think this has been a general and growing question. I see the damage that it can do. People need to have the right to their privacy under HIPPA observed and respected. By now anyone that has any impending medical problem knows to keep a record of it on themselves in case of an emergency. NO, because this medical records online is just wrong.

the electronic filing system NEEDS to be put in place, the system is in dire need of it.

just these last few months ive been required to see the doctor several times, been transfered around to different clinics (all small clinics) for different procedures/lab testing and they cant ever seem to get my information correct, nor my scheduling, or anything for that matter. and when i try to dispute or work out the issues im constantly transfered, put on hold, told to call other numbers even if the department im trying to reach is within the same building. and just recently over the weekend i was supposed to receive a preperation kit in the mail for a test that was to be done yesterday and they ended up sending it to an address that i havent lived at in over 6 years. now, to my recollection, every time i walk into a clinic of any kind you are required to fill out paper work with current address, phone numbers ect.... being that i was at several clinics that are under the same company, wouldnt you think they could have my information correct? of course not. so i ended up getting work off for nothing, and work isnt something i can just skip whenever i want these days, we all know that.... AND i have to make ANOTHER appointment and try and get ANOTHER day off for the testing....

how long to "medical proffesionals" go to school again? and we still cant get a mailing address correct?

there is nothing perfect in the world we live in -but after my many travels i have come to admire the BRITISH NHS or our health care as the best in the world and the saudi system is adapted from the same as a welfare state and it works really well too -i think americans need to adopt the british NHS amongst many other things like the gun laws too