[ NNSquad ] Study: Electronic medical records not reducing costs as expected, may be increasing them

[Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>]

Electronic medical records not reducing costs as expected, may be
increasing them

http://j.mp/U9JeLC  (New York Times)

     The report predicted that widespread use of electronic records could
     save the United States health care system at least $81 billion a year,
     a figure RAND now says was overstated. The study was widely praised
     within the technology industry and helped persuade Congress and the
     Obama administration to authorize billions of dollars in federal
     stimulus money in 2009 to help hospitals and doctors pay for the
     installation of electronic records systems. "RAND got a lot of
     attention and a lot of buzz with the original analysis," said Dr.
     Kellermann, who was not involved in the 2005 study. "The industry
     quickly embraced it." But evidence of significant savings is scant,
     and there is increasing concern that electronic records have actually
     added to costs by making it easier to bill more for some services.
 
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--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren 
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Founder:
 - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org 
 - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
 - Data Wisdom Explorers League: http://www.dwel.org
 - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren / Twitter: http://vortex.com/t-lauren 
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
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