The U.S. government spent $36 billion computerizing health records, yet they’re of limited help in the COVID-19 crisis.
Patients would have far more control over their health care with complete medical histories stored on their phones, proponents say.
The federal government funneled billions in subsidies to software vendors and some overstated or deceived the government about what their products could do, according to whistleblowers.
Special interests and congressional inaction blocked efforts to track the safety of electronic medical records, leaving patients at risk.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), head of the influential HELP committee, wants to make it easier to share and store detailed medical histories.
In an interview, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb reacts to a KHN/Fortune investigation of the drawbacks and risks of electronic health records.
The U.S. government claimed that ditching paper medical charts for electronic records would make health care better, safer and cheaper. Ten years and $36 billion later, the digital revolution has gone awry.
The U.S. government claimed that turning American medical charts into electronic records would make health care better, safer and cheaper. Ten years and $36 billion later, the system is an unholy mess. Inside a digital revolution that took a bad turn.