MOFF,

I was watching a little TV before I went to bed and, because the cable system was being worked on, I got to watch some guy talking about the healthcare act and how it affected a University Hospital here in the state.

He said that because of the HCI, the hospital was looking into having a primary physician do PHONE INTERVIEWS with their patients.

I don't know how much I put into a hearsay 'report' like that, but I thought about you and this scenario popped into my head.....

A robocall a few days before your 'phone appointment'?

"You are scheduled to speak to your primary physician on Oct. 12, The will contact you between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm. Please be available during those hours on Oct 12. If you need to cancel or change your appointment, please all the automated system at 1 800 555 1213 at least three days before your appointment....."

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Bonny,

The ICD 10 and DRG codes are a standard that everyone uses to code illnesses and surgical procedures. EVERY doctor visit and hospital stay is coded and that info is reported to the government.

Those numbers are used for reporting to the CDC, to figure out what kinds of illnesses are on the rise/decline, what codes need to be revised, average hospital stays.........It's a giant numbers gathering system that is used in every way possible.

If you are concerned about the 'numbers' the government keeps on you, with the electronic medical record, that info will be available to them faster and more accurately.

The EMR is another disaster that no one wants to talk about.

Back in the mid 90s the idea of an EMR - for individual hospitals and providers- was shopped around.

It was touted as a faster, cleaner and paperless way to keep records. Buy a system, get rid of the paper, file clerks and train a nurse to be a data entry clerk....

So software companies rushed out to sell systems to physicians/clinics and med centers.

Two problems, the old paper charts needed to be scanned into a patient's charts or you keep the old paper chart until that patient leaves your system. A new patient with paper charts, needs to either get his chart to go to a new physician or the new phys has to get the old chart, himself.

The next problem?

Because each system is owned by a company and the codes are proprietary? The do not 'talk' to each other.
So, if a system was purchased, you must update it to meet the requirements of the universal EMR.

More money for the companies that are rewriting the codes to meet the new requirements - your records need to be available across the new system.

So, physicians, med centers and clinics have to shell out more money to meet the requirements of the HCI.

ALL PROVIDERS/CLINICS/HOSPITALS NEED TO BE ON A EMR SYSTEM W/IN 5 YEARS.

That way, all your medical info will be available on-line by the year 2017.