U.S. Healthcare too expensive president says - WALB.com, South Georgia News, Weather, Sports

U.S. Healthcare too expensive president says

By Wainwright Jeffers - bio | email

ALBANY, GA (WALB) - President Obama hit the road Thursday to try and get people like you to support his health care reform plan.

The president says our healthcare system is too expensive and complex.

One change he's already implementing is making medical records electronic.

That's nothing new for some south Georgia doctors. The system allows physicians to use e-prescription technology to cut down on errors.

"There's no misinterpretation of prescriptions, it's easy and legible, and the computers have software that picks up drug interactions," said Dr. William George, The Veranda.

Stacks of medical records are also gone, replaced by tabs and links.

Doctor George said theoretically the system can help physicians provide better healthcare services.

"If the physician is in the hospital and Ms. Smith comes in and she's in labor, the physician has the ability to interface with our computer, and be provided with all the tests Ms. Smith has had," said Dr. George.

A change from how things used to be.

"Back in the old days if you had a mammogram and you had to send it to California, you'd have to put it on the pony express, and it would be two weeks before you heard if the horse got there," said Dr. George.

Third parties involved with handling patient information, sign waivers to safeguard that information. There are also paper backups just in case of a glitch.

"A practice this size we have a full time IT person," said Dr. George.

Nationwide the e-prescriptions portal of the electronic medical system has been so successful, by 2012 physicians who have not implemented the technology are expected to be penalized for non-compliance.

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