Trends in health care IT: They’re not all positive
January 24, 2013
As this HND piece details it, the chickens are already coming home to roost regarding the so-called Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and related laws, and it's not even 2014. Implementation of the new coding system (ICD-10), which is vital for providers getting paid, has been delayed a year (to 2014), but when it comes, it will surely cause many doctor's offices to close.
Indeed, switching to ICD-10 would have been bad enough, but add to that the mounds of additional reporting put onto the docs, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Then there's the ridiculous push to EHR (electronic health records)--also due by 2014. The powers that be aren't even bothering to lie anymore that it will improve patient outcomes, but here's the best part: The driving force behind this misadventure was a 2005 report from RAND Corporation. Now, RAND is backing way off from the rosy claims they made.
Oh yeah, the report was paid for by Cerner Corporation, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson, and Xerox—all heavily involved in EHR. These companies have made billions on the forced transition--to essentially no benefit of the patients or the providers.
I guess no one noticed who sponsored the report, even though it was on the cover! Still want these despicable federal bureaucrats running your health care? And, what does that tell you about the members of Congress who signed off on ACA, and the various related bills?
Read the complete article.