TOPICS
TOPICS
Panel weighs proposal to digitize federal employee health records
Members of Congress debated a bill Wednesday that would convert federal employee health records to electronic files that employees would keep for life and that would transfer among doctors.
Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce and Agency Organization, held a hearing on the bill he introduced (H.R. 4859) last week that would mandate portable electronic health records within five years for everyone covered by federal employee health insurance.
"We have a wonderful opportunity to improve the quality and delivery of health care for the over 8 million participants in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and at the same time serve as a model to affect change elsewhere," Porter said.
He and his co-sponsor, Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., said making health records electronic would save money and prevent medical errors. The congressmen invited former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., who now runs the Center for Health Transformation, to make the case.
"I start with a very simple premise: Paper kills," Gingrich testified, citing statistics that 98,000 Americans die as a result of medical errors each year. He offered several anecdotes, including one about the Central Utah Multi-Specialty Clinic, which built electronic health records and will save an estimated $14 million over five years as a result of efficiency and automation.
Porter cited a RAND Corp. study estimating that $162 billion could be saved annually if the country launches widespread health-care automation.
The bill would require carriers who participate in the federal plan to provide electronic health records and also would allow individuals to add information including family history, diet and over-the-counter medications.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., said she supports the notion of electronic health records but questioned funding and said participation should be voluntary.
"I think that the federal workforce is an appropriate guinea pig to experiment on--that is to say if, in fact, you have willing guinea pigs," Norton said. "If you're going to put people's medical records out there in the great cyberspace beyond ...do not even consider an 'everybody's in it and you've got to opt out' [system]."
Gingrich agreed, and predicted that federal employees would seek out electronic health records on their own.
"Make it available; do not make it mandatory," Gingrich said. "But I think because the federal employee workforce is actually a pretty smart workforce ... I think you'll see a very rapid migration in this direction."
Funding for the project remains foggier. The Porter-Clay bill would fund the technology by tapping into an account that the Office of Personnel Management keeps for the administrative costs of running the FEHB program, and by counting on eventual savings from the technology. It would not raise premiums.
Charles Fallis, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, said in a statement that his chief concern is cost.
"Tapping into these contributions in order to satisfy additional program spending represents a clear departure from past practice in the administration of the FEHBP program," Fallis said, and may "set a precedent that could lead to future abuse."
Porter, whose subcommittee also heard from a number of medical and industry experts, said he would hold another hearing on the bill.
COMMENTS
- You people are really naïveté! I can get your social security number a dozen different ways and they all are legal. I can get your checking account number and your bank routing number to setup automatic withdrawals from your account. I can get your credit card numbers and in fact they just arrested a dozen waiters in Washington, D.C., for stealing credit card numbers as people charged dinners -- any clerk can get your card number and sell it. If health records are digitized they will begin to appear for sale on the internet and you will have no privacy. Insurance companies want this information to reject applicants that are not healthy for health insurance and life insurance. You need to keep your information private so you can continue to lie to the insurance companies and get lower rates than you really deserve. That way the healthy people have to pay for your coverage and you get a break by not revealing your information. What is wrong with Congress that they want this stuff digitized? Everything digital has been stolen by hackers and used to steal your identity. Just remember that I can do this based on hard copy. It simply is more costly and takes longer. Why should unhealthy people pay their way? It must be real stupid to ask that everyone pay for themselves and not be “penalized” for being unhealthy, or an illegal alien, or a farmer, or live in a flood plain, or live in a hurricane area, or an earthquake zone or issue worthless accounting statements, or file income tax returns through a professional preparer. Come on Congress -- please protect us from ourselves and our stupidity and unhealthy habits! Why don’t you outlaw sweets, fat containing burgers, guns, knives, booze (remember you tried that), lack of exercise, television violence and sex, video games, cell phones (they cause cancer to the head), car bumpers that are not at a uniform height, in fact outlaw cars, etc. Taxpayer Posted March 28, 2006 8:00 AM
- What a bunch of rubbish! Most other countries in the world already have a system which allows employees to manage their medical records and transfer them easily among doctors. It doesn’t require any high technology and is completely cost free. For example, when you go to a hospital in Italy the doctor will hand you your medical report before leaving the office. You take the report home and stick it in a file folder. The next time you have a medical appointment you simply take all or part of that folder with you. This "old fashion" method provides all the benefits of the high technology solution, yet it gives you complete authority over your personal medical records. The system is hacker proof, Bush NSA snoop proof, and completely cost free. It even lowers health care costs because hospitals and clinics don’t need a huge staff to manage and store records. Health insurance companies have made this old fashion method impossible in the United States. A doctor can’t just hand you your record anymore. It has to be run through an office that assigns billing codes, payment requests, records management, etc. All this overhead adds cost but no extra value to U.S. health care. Do we really need a costly plan to digitize all U.S. medical records? Why not just simply pass a law that gives Americans the right to manage their own medical records? Wow, what a concept, eh? GovExec.com reader Posted March 21, 2006 6:48 AM
- Reference Newt's rock - Someone unfamiliar with snakes ... and how to avoid them! Sure wish they had stepped on that rock instead of turning it over. Cracked & Wired Posted March 20, 2006 12:33 PM
