Why Can’t We All Just Get Along (and Share Data)

December 14, 2010

Sometimes it is the simple things in life that may make all the difference. How about the ability of doctors and hospitals to actually access current information on patients so we do not duplicate testing and procedures? This interesting study from the Kaiser Foundation found that patients who visited multiple emergency departments racked up three times the bills over those who stuck to a single ED for care.

Somewhat obvious and simple you might say. Let’s expand that to important information like an old EKG on a patient with chest pain, a recent consult report from a specialist that evaluated a patient in their office or something as basic as a CT report that was done several days ago at an outpatient setting. How would you, as a clinician, like to know that information on a timely and easily obtainable basis? Now we are talking real science fiction-at least in most of the United States. Now there are some systems that easily share information. The issue is once you go outside that system you are out of luck.

Sometimes it is the simple things in life that may make all the difference. How about the ability of doctors and hospitals to actually access current information on patients so we do not duplicate testing and procedures? This interesting study from the Kaiser Foundation found that patients who visited multiple emergency departments racked up three times the bills over those who stuck to a single ED for care.

Somewhat obvious and simple you might say. Let’s expand that to important information like an old EKG on a patient with chest pain, a recent consult report from a specialist that evaluated a patient in their office or something as basic as a CT report that was done several days ago at an outpatient setting. How would you, as a clinician, like to know that information on a timely and easily obtainable basis? Now we are talking real science fiction-at least in most of the United States. Now there are some systems that easily share information. The issue is once you go outside that system you are out of luck.

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