President Obama insists that electronic medical records will help cut healthcare costs, and as part of the February 2009 economic stimulus bill, Congress has offered $19 billion in incentives to adopt them. But Sue Blevins of the Institute for Health Freedom has continually warned that EMRs could endanger privacy and freedom of choice.
Add to this the fact that researchers at Harvard University, publishing in The American Journal of Medicine, wrote that administrative costs rose when hospitals switched to EMRs. Lead author Dr. David Himmelstein stated: “Our study finds that hospital computerization hasn’t saved a dime, nor has it improved administrative efficiency.”
Has anyone sent a copy of this journal to the members of Congress?