Electronic Health Records (EHRs) Can Save Lives: Regina Holliday's Story - UPDATED

Learn more about Regina Holliday's story at http://bit.ly/n6GD7V

Watch how access to electronic medical records could have saved Regina's husband's life.

Regina Holliday tells the story about how her husband Fred's life could have been more comfortable and potentially saved if his health records had been stored as an electronic health record (EHR) instead of on paper.

Fred Holliday was diagnosed with kidney cancer, and throughout his diagnosis and treatment was unable to conveniently obtain his medical records. Access to his paper medical records was nearly impossible to get, was costly and extremely time consuming.

Regina knew that if her husband's records had been stored as an EHR both her husband's doctors and she would have had access to the health information instantly, thus allowing for the coordination and continuity of care required of a cancer patient.

EHRs allow doctors to provide more effective treatment to their patients.

To learn more about EHRs, please visit:

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's website: http://www.healthit.gov

Official ONC Blog, Health IT Buzz: http://www.healthit.gov/buzz-blog

Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ONC_healthit

• Category

  Science & Technology

[Lydia Sugarman]

The problems that Regina and her husband experienced is a combination of outdated , patriarchal professional health institutions, i.e. hospitals, medical practices, etc., policies, siloed departments, disconnected systems, and sub-par EHR technology. But, first and foremost, the people who could make records readily available simply choose not to because of "policy." It originates with administrators who don't want to lose control of patients, in every way, not the least of which is mercenary.

[creekdigger]

sorry to hear about your husband. it sounds to me like the problem was the hospital policy, NOT the type of record keeping. they could also choose not to give you the record if it was electronic. it had nothing to do with "electronic" vs "not electronic". also, the medical record would not make me feel "whole". i would feel more whole if patients were encouraged to participate through being educated throughout their lives, rather than "go stand in the corner".