Doctors eye cloud computing for medical records
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01/18/2010
Cloud computing could play a major role in improving health care efficiency by allowing doctors to store electronic medical records online, according to a column published Monday.
By saving medical records in electronic formats and storing them in online databases, doctors could help ensure that patient information is retrievable instantly from anywhere, Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols wrote for Computer World. Patients could be sure that doctors are completely up-to-date on their insurance information, medical history and other key data, no matter where they go for medical attention.
"All things considered, I'd like to have a standardized EHR system," Vaughn-Nichols wrote.
The sheer number of competing cloud computing records programs available, however, could be a major roadblock to standardization, the columnist noted. Electronic medical records created in one program do not usually work in another.
The medical field has a long way to go before it reaches full adoption of electronic medical records. An estimated 38.4 percent of physicians reported using full or partial electronic medical record systems in 2008, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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