Electronic records can be great. Government does not belong involved. Let the entities who control them do so. Too often our information is compromised by government. VA records on a stolen laptop, hacked systems. It is not good to have government involved. They have no business being able to look at the information.

Let private companies take care of themselves. Let insurance companies compete freely without government intervention so people quit being raped by the government.

Having this information in electronic form and encrypted with only those who should have access to it actually having access (along with a record of who has accessed the file) may even allow for a greater level of security and privacy.

Anyway, this is moot. It’s inevitable and for the best. The piles of paper and endless filing cabinets method is archaic, expensive, a terrible waste, and a profound cause of medical errors (for which the US is a leader) and is completely doomed. Get ready for it.

D.

DAR
As do other countries. And these laws are not contravened by encrypted electronic storage of medical records versus antique paper records. That’s ridiculous.

Bigd: In the last two years I have probably looked at around 5000 medical records.>>

DAR
That’s nice. And those people were hurt by you looking their medical records in what way? Ridiculous. Of course the information is private, of course it can’t be released. This will not change if the information is stored on a smart memory chip instead of a stupid piece of paper. The paper method is *doomed.* Prepare thyself.

Bigd: Privacy laws prevent the release.>>

DAR
Duh. And this will not change if the information is stored on a memory chip instead of a piece of paper.

Bigd: Insurance companies make a 2% profit>>

DAR
Let’s give that little rightwing talking point a smack down right now. First of all, it’s entirely irrelevant even if it were true. It wouldn’t matter even if every single one of them were “non-profit” (and many of them are incidentally). Don’t be fooled. The number that actually goes in the profit line doesn’t remotely address how much money is being sucked up by an unnecessary industry that employs millions and thus wastes hundreds billions. Remember, a billing clerk per bed just on the hospital side? Add to that the insurance billing clerk talking to them. Add to that the nearly half a million insurance workers fiddling away trying to see if your pre-existing conditions qualify (I am dealing with this right now). And this industry spends billions in advertising while it flips 20% of it’s clients per year.

Observe the actions of this *NON PROFIT* health insurance company:

***
Blue Cross Blue Shield Execs Profited From Bogus Bonuses

BISMARCK, N.D. — Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota used premium payments to fund $15 million in employee bonuses, cover $35,000 for a retirement party and pay for other questionable expenses… It was the first audit of the nonprofit company since 2004.

Hamm ordered the audit in March, following criticism of a sales managers’ trip to the Grand Cayman Islands that cost $238,000…

Hamm said that of the $418 million in the company’s administrative expenses over the past five years, the audit found “millions and millions of dollars in excessive expenses.”

The report said that premium payments funded nearly $15 million in employee bonuses that were almost assured regardless of performance, a $3.5 million investment in a hotel in Fargo and sales reward trips to resorts totaling $1.2 million.

In one case, the audit found that $34,814 was spent for a party for a retiring vice president.”

LINK.

And that’s the “non-profit.” What a joke.

Bigd: The things you cite are not scientific studies of health care.>>

DAR
Of course they are. And you’ve got nothing.

D.
——————-
Here’s a new one:

http://www.conferenceboard.ca/HCP/Details/Health.aspx

But if you will send me your complete medical records I will send you all the damaging things in there and how they can be used to hurt you and not by your employer. You assume that is the reason but it is not.

In the last two years I have probably looked at around 5000 medical records. It is not like you have some hidden knowledge about them or that you can actually tell me something about them I do not know.

Privacy laws prevent the release. But if it is OK with you that people see everyone else’s medical records then you have no problem with listening to their cell phone calls as well, right?

If you expect government to take care of you then you are not able to care for yourself.

And if Canada is so great why did you need to come here?

It is not greed based. Insurance companies make a 2% profit and Medicare denies more claims than all private insurance companies.

The things you cite are not scientific studies of health care. France does provide fairly good care but the people pay about 60% in taxes.

Not willing, no I won’t do that when the results are negligible and we already lead the world in too many categories.

DAR
I say that based upon the fact that any and all major scientific comparisons of health care systems around the world based upon standard objective analysis, France repeatedly comes in first or at least within the top three. Let me know if you would like me to repost all of this information again.

Bigd: Can you prove there ahve been no instances?>>

DAR
Two points:

a) In France there are no known instances.

b) Once you have a sensible health care system where people aren’t punished at work and by greed based health care systems, it becomes much less important (if not completely irrelevant) if someone were to see your health history.

Since I am self-employed and always will be, I really don’t care if anyone were to see my complete health history. Don’t care, at all. Many people in Canada (and these other countries) would feel similarly. It’s kind of a moot question. As I said, it makes for very boring reading.

Bigd: A smart card is like a national ID.>>

DAR
Actually it isn’t. It just streamlines the storage and transfer of health care information. I read somewhere that Bush put us on track to make this change over to electronic records but it is happening way too slow because of our complete mess of conflicting systems (you alluded to this earlier as well). We are way behind our peer countries and it is costing us an immense amount. Note:

***
“New England Journal of Medicine finds that health care bureaucracy cost Americans $294.3 billion in 1999. The $1,059 per capita spent on health care administration was more than three times the $307 per capita in paperwork costs under Canada’s national health insurance system. Cutting U.S. health bureaucracy costs to the Canadian level would have saved $209 billion in 1999.

The study was carried out by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Canadian Institute for Health Information,…

“Hundreds of billions are squandered each year on healthcare bureaucracy, more than enough to cover all of the uninsured, pay for full drug coverage for seniors, and upgrade coverage for the tens of millions who are underinsured,”

Link.

Bigd: Where is the Communist ACLU on this?>>

DAR
Storing medical information electronically saves money and does not violate civil liberties, although the odd issue may pop up. If this concerns you, support the ACLU so they can keep an eye on it.

Bigd: you like that idea because you are a Socialist.>>

DAR
Nope. Stock trading, private business man and entrepreneur. That’s me. But basic health care shouldn’t be greed based. That’s a no brainer for those who have looked at the various systems around the world.

Bigd: You are unable to care for yourself>>

DAR
I have always done so. I came to the US in 1987 with about $300 and a high school education. Entirely through my own hard work and ingenuity I have increased my net worth about 1000 fold since then. If you don’t include at least a wee wisp of reality in your insults, they really don’t work very well.

D.

A smart card is like a national ID. Where is the Communist ACLU on this?

No, we do not need government intrusion into our lives.

Of course, you like that idea because you are a Socialist. You are unable to care for yourself so you need nanny gubmint to do it for you.

DAR
France (best health care in the world) has had their smart card for years now and they report ZERO instances of information being hacked (other countries have similar results). People lose about a 1,000 of these cards a week but 80% of the time people just drop them in the mail and they get returned to their rightful owner.

You have to understand that in sensible countries there isn’t this terrible fear of someone discovering your health information. Reading someone else’s health data just makes for REALLY BORING reading. And that is as it should be. But here it is a very different story. And with good reason. People are terrified of this getting out because:

a) it can and will be used against them in employment

b) it can and will be used against them with their insurance.

People are even afraid to get tests because, even if the results are negative, it can STILL be used against them.

Insane.

In sensible countries, this really isn’t much of an issue. Maybe we can make this into a sensible country someday? One can hope.

D.