U.S. prescribes bonus for docs to go paperless

Besides the old magazines in the waiting room, nothing defines the doctor's office like the wall of files -- a simple and by many standards outdated system of paper-based record-keeping. The government, private ...

[Darrell Pruitt]

"You cannot measure and deliver real quality without electronic systems" - Glen Tullman, chief executive of Chicago-based Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc., which helps doctors and their practices set up electronic systems.

So if doctors are rated on quality according to their electronic medical records systems, and are also paid more, just to use the system, what happens if a consumer wants to know the truth? Darrell Pruitt DDS

[Lee]

How secure will the medical records be? Can this be used against you or used to sell you stuff? How well can you correct errors? How flexible is the system? Are there laws in place to protect you? What happens when the system goes down? Has the system been tested? Is there enough tech support? This is about life, death and health not replaceable phone and money. Errors can make you handicapped or be fatal.

[Yimji Wills]

Hello? This is a dandy idea for record-keeping, but I do not see how removing the human element from health care to meet exponetially increasing documentation requirements for insurance payment is going to contribute much to patient care. Perhaps I assume too much in thinking patient care is any kind of priority. Further, while math is not my strong suit, saving the $20K/yr salary by spending $50K with a vague "plus", does not seem like much of a bargain either. The running costs, subscriptions, upgrades go on forever. If it sounds too good to be true...