News Tip: Consumers Key to Success of Electronic Medical Record Effort
President Bush announced the goal on Monday to establish personal electronic health records for most Americans within the next 10 years
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
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Establishing personal electronic health records for most Americans within the next 10 years is essential to radically changing the current model of U.S. health care, said Brian Baum, senior scholar and director of the Health Data Exchange at Duke University.
President Bush announced the goal on Monday and directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to create a new position to oversee the effort.
"We believe that the consumer is the key to driving change in the health care industry," Baum said.
"As consumers begin to understand the value of viewing and managing their individual health information, they will become the most powerful force driving the industry to change. American consumers have demonstrated over and over again throughout the history of our economy that once engaged they become an unstoppable force."
Launched in March by Duke's Fuqua School of Business, the Health Data Exchange plans to build consumer understanding and acceptance of a national health network that will make patient medical information available online to medical providers, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and other segments of the health care industry. The consumer-first approach of Duke's Health Data Exchange seeks to fully engage the consumer as an agent of change.
"While the health care industry has contemplated the idea of an electronic health information network for nearly 40 years, little effort has ever been directed at bringing the consumer directly into the discussion," Baum said.
