President Clinton Advocates Electronic Medical Records (EMR)

Clinton advocated an electronic medical records (EMR) law in his keynote address at the CTIA Wireless trade show in Orlando, Fla. The former President also referred to a recent McKinsey & Co. study that estimates EMR could cut US$100 billion of administrative costs of the U.S. health care system, on which Americans spend $800 billion per year.

That's the number-one thing that can be done right now to make the American health care system more efficient and cut costs, Clinton said. For one thing, EMR would save the cost of patients recounting their medical history every time they change doctors, which can also introduce errors because they may misremember things, he said.

President George Bush wants a system of universal health-records by 2015. And Medicare, the government-run health scheme for pensioners, is shifting to a tiered reimbursement system in which it pays doctors more if they go electronic. Employers are also keen on technology, since it promises to curb health-care costs and improve efficiency. And the consumer wants access and portability which most current systems don't allow due to proprietary systems.

Technology can improve patient outcomes while saving physicians money. Global MedData's web based transcription module is a key component of EMR and it's based on open standards, portability and inexpensive to implement. Global MedData has consistently achieved 40-60% savings and over 95% accuracy for clinics and hospitals that now no longer need to buy complicated and expensive EMR software systems.

Stay tuned, as we'll be bringing more affordable modules as part of a comprehensive EMR/EHR Internet based system.

URL: http://www.intergovworld.com/article/9f8d4ba50a01040800f483b495c7a9ef/pg0.htm

Global MedData is a provider of digital transcription services and EHR to physician practices and clinics in the U.S. and to the National Health Service Hospitals in the U.K. For more information email us at: info@globalmeddata.net