Consumer Directed Healthcare

By: Reed Stough

There has been a lot of buzz about Electronic Medical Records lately, which when you look at the concept it seems to be a very good idea.

The first question you might ask is:  What is an Electronic Medical Record? 

Well, do you remember those forms you fill out everytime to you visit a new doctor for the first time?  Well that in its simpliest form is what an EMR is.  However, I imagine this information will expand to include information that doctors will add to your record when they provide a service to you.

Well, now there are online services out there that will store this information for you.  The most recent one and probably the only one that has a common name behind it, is healthvault.com.  HealthVault.com is a service that not only allows you to create a Electronic Medical Record, but also search for Medical helps.  This service is provided by Microsoft.

Now this all sounds really good and I personally am for making things simple.  It makes for one less thing I have to file away and keep up to date.  Since I’m in the technology industry, I am very interested in that latest and greatest. 

But does this technology make sense?

I see some major obstactles that this might have to overcome to mature into a viable technology.  The first is security.  The second is security.  And the third is security!  Now I feel a little more secure with Microsoft’s solution, but what about some more obscure place that wants to store this information for you.  The fourth issue is reliability.  Now I don’t think Microsoft will be going out of business anytime soon, but what about a smaller company.  What if you store your data in one of these places and they go out of business?  What do you do then?

So that is just food for thought, what do you think????

A great article for anyone looking to manage their medical bills.

10 ways to reduce your medical bills

1. Ask your doctor to be your ally.
2. Compare costs by using CPT codes.
3. Find friends in the billing department.
4. Negotiate lower prices, payment arrangements.
5. Ask if recommended services are necessary.
6. Expore state-sponsored hospital Web sites.
7. Check your insurance company’s website too.
8. Ask for the Medicare Rates.
9. Go generic.
10. Sweat the small stuff.

For more details on each of the 10 ways to reduce your medical bills, please visit: http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/insurance/20061204_care_cost_health_a1.asp