Why we must invest in electronic medical records (2)

Part 2.

Quite simply, the entire country should have the highest quality care we can afford, along with electronic medical records such as those used by the VA. That's why Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and I are working together to make sure that we do. We've proposed bipartisan legislation that would begin the process of setting up a system that allows data sharing, available everywhere, and protects privacy while rewarding quality.
To begin with, Americans should be able to access their medical records wherever they go. This ranks as a high priority, because existing systems like the VA's are useless outside of the organizations that build them. If two travelers get into a car accident a thousand miles from home, the emergency room they arrive at should be able to access a medical records system that can bring up their full medical history, their allergies and information about the medications they take. Right now, in fact, outdated government regulations stop many hospitals from setting up systems that would do this.
Making such a system available everywhere, however, will take a lot more than computers, satellites and fiber-optic cable. It will also require the government to work with hospitals and doctors to create common terminology for medical records and a common data format for sharing them. Because the federal government pays more medical bills than anyone else, its own health-insurance programs -- Medicare, Medicaid, the Indian Health Service and the State Children's Health Insurance Program -- should help take the lead in promoting the use of electronic health records for beneficiaries.
In addition, my colleagues and I also believe that the electronic medical records system should include legal and technological safeguards to ensure that, except in life-or- death emergency situations, nobody can access a patient's medical records without permission from that patient.
Finally, we should use the improved data we collect to reward quality care. Doctors and hospitals who do a good job should receive extra pay from both public and private insurers and those who experience problems should get help to improve. This should begin to erase many of our nation's disgraceful health-care disparities by raising the quality of care for everyone.
For far too long, America has invested too little in health information technology. It's time for a change. Patients around the country need to become full partners in their own health care and drive the system along. Electronic medical records will help do that. If we create privacy-protected electronic medical records for every citizen who wants them, we will save money and, most important, we will save lives.

William H. Frist