Why Tech won't solve the health care problem.

[Guest guest]

It saddens me to witness the continued infatuation with health

information technology when so much basic and less expensive improvement is yet

to be done.

Commonwealth Fund studies show other developed countries outperforming

the US

on quality and cost of care because their health systems are founded on

effective primary care.

Effective primary care from the perspective of those receiving

care:

“I can get care when I need it,”

“my personal doctor and nurse know me,”

“my primary office provides for most of my needs,”

and “they coordinate care when I need any outside their

office.”

“Computers on the team” fails to correct longstanding

policies of rewarding procedures instead of caring. While computers on

the team may in some cases help actual people, the real improvement from this

push to fund electronic records is likely to be the bottom line of companies

with well heeled lobbyists.

Attached is a very nice short article that exposes this myth

for what it is and does a good job identifying the source of the mistake

(missing a key caveat in a 2005 RAND study that identified savings IF technology

was adopted as part of other major changes to the health care delivery system).

Gordon