The Internet is transforming the way
Americans interact with the health care system, and consumers want
more opportunities to use it.
According to a 2002 Harris Interactive
poll, 90 percent of patients with Internet access would like to be
able to consult their physician by e-mail. Doctors and health care
providers are increasingly using telemedicine for remote monitoring
of patients' health, according to an April 2006 Wall Street
Journal article. As insurers begin to cover the costs of
telemedicine, both avenues are likely to widen.
Another way the Internet is about
to transform health care is through electronic medical records
(EMR). A fall 2005 report published in the journal Health
Affairs found EMR could improve efficiency and safety for an
estimated savings of about $81 billion per year, and a RAND
Corporation study released last September quotes the potential
savings at $77 billion a year--quite a coup, considering total
national health care expenditures were $1.9 trillion in 2004.
Storing medical records electronically also improves care
coordination and boosts survival rates by allowing medical
providers and facilities to share medical information more easily,
according to the Health Affairs report.
That's a major reason the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services is working to create a
National Health Information Network (NHIN)--a national database
linking patients' records with health care providers, insurers,
pharmacies, labs, and claims processors--by 2009.
"Electronic health records will
re-engineer health care in a way that will save thousands of lives
and billions of dollars," NHIN Director David Brailer told
Consumer Reports in March.
Protecting Privacy
Although transferring personal
health information electronically--whether in e-mails or
EMR--between patients and providers may be efficient, it also
raises the possibility of private medical information being viewed
by others or stolen to perpetrate fraud.
The Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) requires health care
providers, health plans, and business associates to adopt security
and privacy standards for electronic communications, medical
records, and medical transactions. Adopting privacy standards for
electronic health communication will improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of the nation's health care system by encouraging the
widespread use of electronic data interchange in health care.
Wiring a Solution
In April 2005, Houston, Texas-based
SafetySend, Inc. formed a partnership with the American Association
for Medical Transcription to create a private system that transmits
personal health information securely. SafetySend's service,
available for businesses and individuals, includes large-scale
enterprise solutions for organizations needing secure file
transfer, such as health plans and providers whose medical records
must meet HIPAA privacy standards.
Medical file transfers and e-mail
communications are not the only place where health care
transactions need to be protected. Currently, most patients'
medical records consist of paper files stored at each provider's
facility. As physicians retire or merge practices, medical records
are often relegated to offsite storage facilities where they are
inaccessible and vulnerable to theft, arson, and natural disasters.
"Never has the need for electronic
storage of critical health and personal information been evidenced
than [by] the recent disasters," SafetySend CEO Mike Sharp said.
"[Hurricanes] Katrina and Rita and the tornadoes of the central
U.S. showed us how important it is to have a safe place to keep a
disaster backup in case of emergency."
SafetySend also offers secure
e-mail and fax components that work with existing computer
systems--no expensive additional hardware is required. Individuals
can purchase the service for as little as $8 per month.
Preventing Fraud
Health records may be vulnerable in
other ways as well, such as impersonators accessing other people's
information. Unscrupulous providers can bill for services that were
never given. Providers or third parties might bill for patients
they have never seen. Medicaid fraud may occur when enrollees let
non-covered friends or relatives borrow their Medicaid cards so
they can receive free care. Stolen or counterfeit Medicaid cards
may even be used to fraudulently obtain controlled drugs for sale
on the street.
To improve the security of
face-to-face medical transactions, --a private firm based in
Atlanta--uses fingerprint authentication that positively identifies
the health plan enrollee and prevents access by unauthorized
persons. The system keeps a record of the date and time services
are received. It also alerts providers if their patients are seeing
other physicians and being prescribed other drugs. Through this
system, individuals seeing multiple doctors to obtain large amounts
of narcotic drugs are unable to conceal their activities.
