Maybe a doctor, healthcare administrator or insurance person can anwer this: with all of the advanced information systems available in 2003, why does the provider/insurer system in the US have such a paper-focused, outdated, ineffective method of retrieving and transferring patient information?

When I get my oil changed, the company has all of my info. still in their computer. All I have to do is review for changes!

When I see a referred doctor, they make me fill out a sheet filled with personal, general and health history questions - every time!

Why can't the doctor and medical services offices share at least 'basic' information? I ask the doctor and he says it's because the insurance companies 'make' them do it to trace paperwork.

The morning my wife and I went to the hospital to deliver our fristborn, they had a huge form to fill out. You guessed it - all of the exact same info. we had been filling out for the doctor and hospital for tha last 9 months!

Can someone let me know whay this process has to be so cumbersome?! If I had to do this for any other business, I would switch suppliers!

Very Frustrated!!!

Conserve,

Yep, it's awful. Hospitals are often obsessed with forms, using "the right form," carbons, and other hassles.

But it HAS improved. Most of the hospitals where I've worked (as a student nurse practitioner) use computerized order entries for medications and so forth. Two of the hospitals have employed computerized charting. During my ER rotation, the hospital system where I worked maintained an integrated computer network, eliminating a great deal of paperwork.

One hospital where I worked also maintained digital imaging software so that we could view x-rays and CT scans on computer terminals instead of waiting for the films to be developed.

Medication adminsitration has improved as well. Every hospital where I have worked uses a Pyxis system, which carefully monitors stock drug supplies. Fancier hospitals now use

There has been a lot of discussion about "smartcards," which store patients' medical histories, wide area network information systems, and so forth. But many people are concerned about the privacy of the data, especially if insurers could gain access. So I don't think any of that will happen any time soon.

Changes are happening, but they're slow. If you think that a particular form was unnecessary during any of your visits, SAY SO! Hospitals are becoming more customer service-driven, so they're keen to know about such details. There will still be forms to fill out, but we'll continue to work together to make the paper trail less burdensome.

Take care,

Mars