benefits of electronic records

Obama: We're going to work with your employer to lower the cost of your premiums by up to $2,500 a year. We contacted health experts about this claim before – when Obama was saying the $2,500 would be the savings per family "on average." Some were quite skeptical. M.I.T.'s Jonathan Gruber told us, "I know zero credible evidence to support that conclusion." Obama has also said on the campaign trail that more than half of the savings would come from the use of electronic health records, a major part of his plan to cut health costs. When we looked into that claim, experts told us it was wishful thinking. Adoption of electronic medical records has been slow among doctors and hospitals. Obama could do much to speed it up, but it's not clear that he could bring about widespread adoption or reap such large savings from it. One of his advisers previously told us that the $2,500 figure included savings that would go to government and employers and that could, theoretically, result in lower taxes or higher wages for Americans. It remains to be seen whether savings could trickle down like that, even if Obama could gain the optimistic overall health care savings he touts.
Electronic medical records will save money and lives by cutting down on medical errors. Electronic records would also allow patients to go online to see their records, set up an appointment, have their x-rays and labwork readily available to doctors anywhere, and allow the patient to ask the doctor or nurse a question via email or a webcam, eliminating a trip to the doctors office, traffic, parking, and a wait in the waiting room- benefits all. These are NOT just possibilities, they are happening now at the Miami VA. Check it out.