Obamas Medical Record Plan

President Obama is moving forward with the controversial project to make all medical records electronic.

The president tapped Harvard medical school professor David Blumenthal to start a federal health information network. The system would allow doctors to share information over the Internet.

The project is a hot topic with doctors here in the Bay area, partly because more Bay area doctors are actually making the switch to a computerized system.

Basically access to information becomes an issue, said Dr. Chris Politis, an urologist in St. Petersburg. A lot of times patients get x-rays, visit other physicians and unfortunately we may not have access to that information.

This week in Clearwater the Pinellas County Medical Association held a seminar to discuss the pros and cons of a computerized health network. And while Politis says he understands the reluctance by some, he believes the benefits will help doctors and patients.

But as Letitia Stein, a health reporter with the St. Petersburg Times, discovered, not every Bay area doctor is ready to give up the paper files. They say the switch could create a very complicated situation.

Things that theyre used to doing very quickly right now, take a long time for them to do. You have to find the right boxes to click. Youre not familiar with the technology, Stein said. One physician I talked to even found that it cuts time on her patient interaction because she has to put things in her records.

Theres also concern about clicking the wrong buttons and the privacy of the electronic records.

If anything bad happens and somehow people get your information, youre reacting to a situation no one ever wants to be in, Stein said.

Another big turnoff for doctors is the cost. The switch is expected to be very expensive. And it could eventually even cost patients more in health costs.

Obama says he wants all medical records digitized within five years.

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Science & Technology