Reform Proposal

As a member of the technology group I will be proposing reform on electronic or e-health in the United States. The current U.S. system deters doctors and patients from embracing technology online. With online record keeping on a national scale patients records could be accessed by any doctor anywhere. This would allow for a greater mobility for aging or chronically ill patients. This would also allow the patient to access and update their status and health condition, allowing for more efficient treatment. According to a survey of health care consumers, “57% of American consumers want a secure Internet site to access medical records, schedule appointments, refill prescriptions and pay medical bills (…).”

The fears that are holding back progress on this are due mainly to privacy and patient privilege issues stemming from the lack of security of online records. With even the government pushing for a complete transition to e-record keeping, critics denote that there must be an option to opt out if a patient does not want his medical data to be stored electronically. Another large problem is the fact that the startup cost per provider office is between 10,000 and 50,000 dollars. Along with the fact that many providers are paid per visit, this has deterred many physicians from the adoption of this system.

This technology eliminates many of the problems resulting from a system of paper records kept by a single provider. By letting patients access the system at will, they will be able to update their status when feeling ill and not have to recall symptoms from memory. Moreover, “it would cut down on mistaken and unnecessary procedures and give doctors faster access to more accurate information about patients' medical histories and drug regimens.” The providers that have incorporated this technology into their practice have reaped the rewards by being able to see more patients at once. This has in fact increased their profits while increasing their effectiveness. As taxpayers we should begin to examine the current healthcare system and ways to improve it through our use of technology and e-record keepings seems to be worth a second look.

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Jennifer Gamberini

In my opinion, I think a new approach should be taken to reform health care. Measures are already being brought forth in this direction, but I think the aspect of prevention is one that is key. Much money is spent developing new technology, and while I believe that is great, I think it we would be much more productive and able to save a lot more money if preventative measures were increased.
Injuries are a great example of this. When a person gets injured, costs quickly escalate as doctors work to diagnosis it; tests are run, and imaging equipment is used to examine the patient. And as degree of severity has an infinite range, so does reason for injury. Athletic injuries, in particular, can be more frequently prevented with the help of proper training. Beginning in early gym classes, children should be taught proper exercise, stretch and training techniques. If these values can be instilled early on, it will be easier to carry on throughout life and one can incur less injury. For instance, upon developing agility skills, children should be taught appropriate jumping and landing skills, in conjunction with side-to-side motions. Learning and practicing this correctly will reduce the risk of damage, such as tearing a muscle or ligament (ACL).
In addition to athletic injuries are vehicle-induced accidents. Driving limitations, restrictions and revocations should be enforced in full, in particular with regard to drunk driving. Not only should people fear a first offense, but multiple offenders should be unheard-of. Care most definitely should be provided for victims of such a crime, but the cost to provide the care can skyrocket with ambulances, hospital stays, medical exams and potential further rehabilitation. If prevention in this area could be effective, much money could be saved; plus, lives themselves could be saved and protected.
Last, I think lifestyle is a key factor. For many people who have poor health, it is due to their unhealthy lifestyle. Smoking predisposes a person for lung cancer and requires the use and development of equipment and technology to treat it. Obesity predisposes a person to diabetes and requires the use and development of equipment and technology to treat it. Unprotected and multiple-partner sex predisposes a person to STIs and requires the use and development of equipment and technology to treat it. The list continues, but this root lies within lifestyle. If people can be better educated and given better opportunities to make beneficial choices, much disease, injury and cost can be eliminated. The money saved from this unnecessary spending could then be channeled toward more complicated and effective technology and research for things that we don’t have as much control over.


Delivering Health Care In America, Leiyu Shi & Douglas A. Singh

Technology- Reform Proposal 1

Now days, because we rely so much on technology to find and diagnose medical problems in the human race, we wonder why access to it can be so difficult. Something that is so steadfast and capable of doing what the human eye cannot do should be easily available to the population. It’s not though; majority of reason being, the cost.
It is not only the people who do not have health insurance either. Our U.S. health care system is struggling to find a way to make medical costs efficient. For example, many hospitals and clinics exceed the amount of machines necessary to treat patients. This is inefficient for two reasons. One being that the place of practice has increased what they pay for their medical equipment, and two being patients are told to receive multiple scans (MRI, PET, etc.) which may be unnecessary because it most likely does not help the doctors diagnoses.
Over the last five years, medical technology spending has included about twenty percent of the rise in U.S. health care costs. Cutting on medical technology health care costs is easier said than done because of how accurate these machines really are. As stated earlier, they are capable of seeing what the human eye cannot; therefore people’s health has/will increase. Another question we would like to raise is, why is it that in the United States, an MRI, for example costs around one grand for the patient and in other countries, Japan for example the price only is around ninety dollars? Being the most developed country on the globe, we should be able to come up with ways to make our health care more cost efficient. Granted it would take time do so, we don’t expect a price change in the blink of an eye. But with the resources we have, we believe it is possible for the U.S. health care system to come up with ways to proficiently reduce the costs of medical technology both for the caregiver and caretaker with out compromising the innovation of our machines used. It seems as though innovation is the biggest reason for the increase in medical technology costs. Everyone is too scared to find ways to lower the costs because that would mean our technology would not be up to par, or so they think. Our country is not about to take steps backwards in the world of technology because of price cuts. This can be done; it’s just a matter of time and willingness.

Kelsey Katarow

"U.S Health Care's Technology Cost Crisis." (28. Feb. 2009): 28 Feb. 2009. http://www.strategy-business.com/enewsarticle/enews033104?pg=1.


Shi, L, & Singh, D (2008). Delivering Health Care in America: A Systems Approach.Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.