[LINK] Electronic medical records: why we should seek a second

[Frank O'Connor]

Good point.

Over the last 20 years I have seen innumerable eHealth initiatives that foundered on various altars of self-interest, ego and other less salubrious motives. The medical e-records field is plagued with show-stoppers, Luddites, industry and industrial relations interests, Medicare and financial control issues, litigation and insurance issues, criminal and civil evidence issues (for those who champion non-disclosure) and conflicts of interest amongst all parties that virtually ensure it will never be implemented as a consensus.

To us its desirability may be self-evident, but to many/most practitioners in the field this is not so. Indeed many doctors, nurses, administrators, drug companies, medical do-da manufacturers, politicians and the like view it as an unmitigated threat. Better the fragmented confusion and dysfunction our health system now labours under, than something that would produce hard data and reveal the various mistakes, inefficiencies and outright waste that currently exists. Nobody wants to kill the golden goose, that has consistently increased its cost base by 4 percent more than the CPI for the last 30 years.

Nah ... Far better to keep raising objections, stop the show and stave off the day when eHealth becomes a reality .. whilst continuing to feed insatiably at the public trough.

Just my 2 cents worth ...

Sent from my iPad
---
On 20/12/2011, at 7:09 PM, Bernard Robertson-Dunn <brd at iimetro.com.au> wrote:

> On 20/12/2011 5:16 PM, Roger Clarke wrote:
>> For clarity, my personal position, and, separately, the APF's, are
>> strongly in favour of the appropriate use of IT in support of patient
>> health care:
>> http://www.privacy.org.au/Papers/eHealth-Policy-090828.pdf
> 
> The key words here are "health care" and  "appropriate".
> 
> IMHO, eHealth (not health care) is a social problem which has not been 
> adequately resolved. The current initiatives are seen as IT problems.
> 
> The mismatch between the problem of eHealth and the IT solutions 
> currently being pursued is such that I can't see any likelihood of 
> significant success.
> 
> For anyone seriously following this debate 
> <http://aushealthit.blogspot.com/> is a good place to watch.
> 
> -- 
> 
> Regards
> brd
> 
> Bernard Robertson-Dunn
> Canberra Australia
> email:   brd at iimetro.com.au
> website: www.drbrd.com
> 
> 
> 
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